Chapter 24
Old and New
The night settled peacefully, giving the illusion that all was right with the world. A clear, night sky allowed the moon to illuminate the glimmering sea which surrounded the country of Waves. The sound of crickets and other nocturnal creatures were the music of the night.
Their chorus however was unheard from the bustling household which rested on a elevated wooden planks and steel beams over the tranquil seashore. Various voices could be heard over the night creature's tunes.
"I wanted that last piece of sushi, Sasuke, you bastard!" Naruto grumbled angrily at the smirking Uchiha who sat across from him at the dinner table.
"Well then you should have been quicker, loser."
"Naruto don't go yelling at Sasuke!"
"Brat, you're getting spit all over my food!" The imposing missing-nin barked at the foaming blond, who had launched himself across the table toward the target of his annoyance. He would have been successful, if it weren't for a pair of sturdy hands which choked him tightly around the neck.
"Master Zabuza, you shouldn't hold the boy by the neck like that..." Haku tried to placate the older man.
"Hey, let my cute little student breathe. He's turning blue."
"Listen to Lord Kakashi, Zabuza. Naruto needs air." Kimimaro added in.
A low growling sound coming from the large, black canine seated next to the blond was finally enough for Zabuza to loosen the grip, but not completely letting go.
Seeing that the Hatake and white haired brat were correct, and Naruto had started to resemble a blueberry, Zabuza reluctantly released the boy onto the floor in a gasping mess.
Never had air tasted so sweet and precious.
"Dammit-Old man! Don't go choking people like that!"
"What did you just call me!? I ain't old, shortie!" Zabuza snapped at the remark.
Naruto snickered at the glare that this nickname incited, further irritating the swordsman.
"Now, now, settle down you two. We're trying to have a nice dinner here." Kakashi said happily with an eye smile.
Eventually, the bickering duo calmed and returned eagerly to the respective meals.
Tazuna and Tsunami, the pretty ebony haired young daughter of the bridge builder, laughed merrily, amused at the shinobi's antics. Who knew they were such lively people? Despite the whole trained to be killers aspect.
"I wanted to ask earlier, but why did you still continue the mission even though I lied about the request details?" Tazuna ventured to ask Kakashi who had finished his meal and had pulled out an all too familiar orange book.
Before Kakashi could answer, Naruto responded in his stead as he rose to his feet and started to say passionately, "What kind of question is that? Not doing the right thing when you know you can do something about it, is a cowards way out!"
At the blonds loud proclamation, a fist slammed harshly against the wooden table.
"It doesn't matter, you all will die anyway. Gato will kill you..." muttered a small voice, freezing everyone in their seats as they turned in surprise towards the quivering boy who sat next to Tazuna.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence kid." The blond retorted sarcastically before continuing, "You shouldn't be taking out your frustrations against the people who are the only thing keeping you, your mother, and grandfather alive."
"How stupid can you be? You think you're some kind of hero? There's no such thing!" The small boy scoffed bitterly. "If you don't want to die, you should go back to where you came from. None of you stand a chance against someone like Gato!"
Naruto narrowed an icy, blue gaze at the hat wearing boy. "Is that so? What do you suggest we have done then? Leave your grandfather to fend for himself?"
"You're really starting to get on my nerves kid. You want us to leave so bad? Then tell me something first, should we leave before or after Gato comes for your grandfathers head?"
Naruto started to calmly approach the bridge builder and his grandson. "Perhaps I should save Gato the trouble and get rid of the old man before he sends more people." The blond had stood behind the bridge builder as he spoke, and before anyone could blink, a dangerously gleaming kunai was pressed up against Tazuna's tanned neck.
"If your grandfathers gone then Gato will have no reason to send anymore ninja. Is that what you want Inari? To have your grandfather die, so you can continue on living without having to fear Gato coming after you?" The kunai was pressed closer and alarmed fear shone in the young, Wave boy's brown eyes.
"Make your choice Inari. We leave and let your grandfather fall to Gato or I end all of this tortuous wait for you right now."
Everybody in the room was frozen in a stunned silence. Never had anyone expected the normally bright and sunny boy to threaten an old man and little boy. Kakashi knew what the blond was trying to get across to the small child, but he feared Naruto was going to cross the line.
"Naruto." The silver haired man began to warn with a tense tone, but the blond interrupted him once again.
"No, sensei. Inari has to learn that in this life, there is no place for those who give up and wallow in their own pity." Naruto's oceanic eyes flashed dangerously toward the silenced Jonin before returning to level a serious glare at the shocked boy who sat in front of him.
"Kid, you got to understand that if no one stands up, if no one tries to be a hero, then nothing will change."
Naruto sounded almost defeated as he loosened his gripe on his weapon and released the elder man with a heavy sigh.
"Only those who are willing to sacrifice everything are able to bring about change... So stop your crying and man up! Life's not fair, so learn to deal with it!"
Naruto gestured toward the stunned bridge builder and his daughter, drawing Inari's clouding eyes to his mother and grandfather. "You at least still have two people who are with you. Be thankful you never spent a day in your life alone with no one waiting for you at home."
"In Konoha, we are taught to fight, not for ourselves, but for our village. For those people who are so precious to us that we are willing to lay down our lives, so that they can live long lives and be happy."
With a bittersweet smile on his face, Naruto heaved another sigh as he turned his gaze away from the transfixed table towards the opened window and stared at the moon's reflection on the sea.
"One day, you will be given the option to either hide and cry away all your problems or stand up and fight for what you believe in and those you love... and sometimes, fighting until your last breath is the only option there is left..." With those final words, a soft, sad smile appeared on Naruto's tanned face.
Suddenly feeling self-conscious when he faced the table and finally realizing that everyone's gaze was firmly on him, Naruto averted his eyes and stalked out of the room as if his life depended on it. Kagemaru, the ever faithful ninken, followed quickly after his retreating blond boss.
The front door shutting close echoed in the silent household. Pensive and thoughtful faces lighted everyone's features. Naruto had quite a way with words.
Before anyone could comment or say a word, Inari rose quickly to his feet and ran out of the dining room, with tears streaming down his face, and up the stairs toward his room.
Tsunami stood to chase after him, but her father's grip on her wrist prevented her. The grim look on his aged face had her understand that her son needed to be left alone, and she sat down once again. Her own tears threatening to fall from her eyes.
Clearing his throat, Zabuza turned toward the pensive silver haired man. "Shouldn't you go after your brat?"
Kakashi shook his head slowly, "No, Naruto has to face his own demons just as Inari does right now. I'll talk to him tomorrow. The best thing to do right now is to just let the boys cool down on their own."
"The brat must have suffered quite a deal." Zabuza said suggestively, hoping to get some clarification on the blond's sudden attitude change. He looked like battle worn veteran near the end of his little speech.
Knowing, what the swordsmen was getting at, Kakashi decided to indulge the curious man, and hoped that what he said would strengthen the bonds between his students.
"Naruto is an orphan. What he just said to Inari, he has been to telling to himself day after day, after he realized that crying over the injustice in his life wasn't getting him anywhere. Since I've known him, Naruto isn't the type to easily give up when things get rough..."
As Kakashi was telling the others Naruto's tale, the blond himself was ferociously working to rid himself of all his pessimistic thoughts, ignoring the concern's of Kagemaru who relented his pleadings, and resumed a sentinel position watching over the distressed blond.
"Damn that little brat got me thinking all wrong now!" There went another tree...
Naruto, your father and mother died to save the village and protect you...
The photo of his father happily hugging his beautiful and pregnant mother flashed through his mind. His jaw tightened.
"They're heroes... That stinking little kid doesn't know what he's saying!" Wooden splinters rose from where his fist collided with the trunk of tree.
They named you after the hero in Jiraiya's book. They wished you'd be like him in the future. A hero...
"Ahhh! Dammit!" He leaned against the abused trunk as he clutched his bleeding hand against his chest. The Naruto in the book never gave up and neither will I!
"You should really stop doing that before you end up losing that hand kid." A voice interrupted the blond from smashing his bruised appendage once again in the wooden trunk.
It was the white haired boy who arrived with Zabuza. His presence putting the black wolf-hybrid on edge.
"Kimimaro right?" Naruto asked the approaching teen.
"Yes, and you should let me take a look at your hand. I know some medical jutsu's that will help."
Naruto flickered his gaze down towards his blood covered right fist and his wary looking ninken before returning towards the casually standing teen.
"You don't have to. It'll be fine in a little bit. Are the others done with their dinner?"
Kimimaro placed his hands in his pockets as he stood in front of the sweating pre-teen and guarded canine.
"No, Lord Kakashi is keeping them occupied at the moment."
Ah, so the bastard was telling people his business again... I'm going to need to have a little chat with him about keeping certain things to himself!
"I see... Why aren't you inside listening to him?"
An interested look gleamed in the white haired boys eyes.
"Some things are best heard from the original source."
Naruto heard the underlying request. "Yeah, sure ask away." He replied, not heeding the warning whine from Kagemaru, as he rested his back against the tree and waited patiently for Kimimaro to ask his question.
"Earlier, you said that only those who are willing to sacrifice everything are able to bring about change. What is it that you are trying to change?"
"That's what you want to know?" Naruto said, unable to hold back his surprise and skepticism.
Kimimaro nodded and the blond sighed before averting his gaze from the taller boy.
"I wasn't really talking about myself at that moment, but my father... He helped save our village when I was just a little kid and he gave everything to the village. His blood, sweat, tears, and finally his life. Just so that he could change the fate of many people, especially mine." Naruto clenched his fist tightly as he continued.
"He gave up everything just to give us a chance. My mother too, she fought alongside him that night and gave her last breath by his side."
Naruto at this point had turned away from Kimimaro and seemed to be lost in his own world.
"Sometimes, I wondered what would have happened if they had been cowards and fought to live instead of fighting so that others could. When I learned the truth of their deaths, I vowed that I would never give any less than they did. I would work until I was the best. Until I was a hero in the eyes of others!"
After a moment of tense silence passed, Kimimaro spoke.
"Your father was the Yondaime Hokage correct?"
Naruto involuntary stiffened in alarm. Damn, I didn't think I gave away anything that could link him!
The blond contemplated his options on whether or not to tell the boy the truth. He wasn't from the village, but he could tell the wrong person and it could reach Konoha.
With a discrete side ways glance at the boy, Naruto knew that the white haired boy would know if he lied as well. Yet, he seemed to revere Kakashi and as long as he mentioned to Kakashi that Kimimaro knew, he'd take care of the guy for him.
"Ah, yeah... He was. What gave it away?" Naruto asked with a nervous chuckle.
An amused smirk graced the pale boys features.
"You spoke of a night, so I assumed you meant a single event. The only thing that came to mind was the attack of the Nine-tailed Fox. Well, that and I have seen a photo of the Fourth Hokage from an older version of the Bingo book. You resemble him quite a bit. It was simply putting two and two together"
Naruto flashed him his trademark grin before laughing. "You're the first to ever relate me to him by a picture."
Surprise shone in Kimimaro's emerald eyes.
"You mean to say that your village doesn't know who you are?"
The blond chuckled as he nodded. "Yup! It's best this way though. Kakashi will have a fit once I tell him you know. He really doesn't want other people to find out, something about multiple death threats and shit like that. Even my team-mates don't know, so I'll appreciate it if you keep this a secret."
As an added incentive, Kagemaru gave his best warning growl and glare. That seemed to do the trick.
Kimimaro nodded numbly. What did I just get myself into?
...
A tense silence filled the dining room. The only sounds that could be heard were the shuffling and rummaging of Tsunami and Sakura as they cleared and washed the dishes. Soon enough, even those distracting noises were silenced as they returned to their seats, their task done.
Sakura glanced wearily between her sensei and black haired team-mate. Their recent and heated argument still fresh on her mind.
After Kakashi and finished explaining Naruto's sudden change in temper, the room was stunned and contemplative until Sasuke spoke up.
"There's something that's been bothering me. Zabuza called you Copy Ninja Kakashi and... Sharigan Kakashi. Why? I know for a fact you aren't a member of the Uchiha."
"Oh, that would be because I have a Sharigan eye." Kakashi casually answered as he lifted his headband and displayed the crimson orb to the confused pre-teen.
A shocked gasp escaped Sasuke.
"How did you get that eye, Kakashi?" Sasuke inquired his voice on the verge of seething.
"Calm down, Sasuke. I'll explain how I came about this eye, and it isn't what you're imagining." The silver haired man responded with a sigh before beginning the tale of his fallen team-mate and best-friend.
Things from there quickly cooled and Sasuke had receded into himself and refused to share his thoughts on the subject, no matter how much the pink haired girl tried to get him to open up.
Shaking away her depressing thoughts, Sakura glanced around the silent room and her gaze rested on a torn picture hanging right over Tazuna's shoulder. Now that she thought about it, she had noticed earlier that the boy, Inari, kept looking over there, but gave it no immediate importance.
"Why are you hanging a torn photo? I noticed that Inari kept looking at it all during dinner." Sakura directed the question to Tsunami as she motioned towards the hanging frame.
The woman's pretty features harden as she glanced at the aforementioned picture. "It was of my husband."
Seeing that his daughter wasn't going to elaborate to the confused shinobi who had tuned into the conversation, Tazuna started in a raspy voice. "Kaiza was a man known as the hero of this town."
Tazuna began to tell them of how Kaiza, a simple fisherman, became one of the strongest men in the small country of Wave.
"Was he the reason that Inari is so against hero's?" Kakashi asked after hearing the elder man's tale, picking up on the past tense they pair spoke in when referring to the man.
"Yes, Gato had him publicly executed and dismembered for trying to go up against him. The boy idolized him. His death hit him the hardest."
Gasps of shock escaped Sakura and Haku.
Now intrigued, Zabuza interjected into the conversation between the men, "Shouldn't the opposite happen then? If he idolized him as his hero, shouldn't he have tried to avenge his father and help free your village in his place?"
"One would think so, but Inari had always been a fragile and weak-willed boy. Kaiza taught him to stand up for himself, but Inari still depended on him. He became a support for Inari and when Gato took him away, it broke my grandson and he gave up hope of becoming strong and reverted into his earlier self."
Kakashi tugged his masked chin thoughtfully. "I see... Well that certainly explains why Naruto and Inari clashed. They're complete opposites."
"Yeah, I can't see that blond shortie giving up so easily, if ever." Zabuza added.
"The term quitting doesn't even register with him." Kakashi said while chuckling bemusedly.
Eventually bored of the conversation, Sakura and Sasuke excused themselves and headed to their rooms after the initial conversation gave way to less important and mundane matters. Tazuna and Tsunami followed shortly after.
Once only Kakashi, Zabuza, and Haku remained in the dining room, the mist shinobi realized they were missing their third member.
"Where the hell is that white haired little prick?" Zabuza questioned Haku.
Haku shrugged. "He left a few moments after Inari and Naruto departed the dining room."
"I'm surprised you didn't notice Zabuza." Kakashi chimed in.
The swordsmen scoffed, "Of course I noticed monkey. I just wanted to know where the brat is."
"Monkey?" Kakashi asked with a raised brow.
A smug expression crossed Zabuza's bandaged, tan face. "That's right. Monkey's copy others quite well after all." The swordsmen grinned gleefully when he saw the annoyance in the silver haired shinobi.
"Ah... Quite clever little one." Kakashi replied dryly with a hint of amusement.
The way the man phrased it caused the missing-nin to bristle. "Who are you calling little monkey?" Zabuza practically hissed at the cool-looking copy-nin.
"Oh, do you not wield such a large weapon as compensation for down under?" Kakashi teased the irritated swordsmen as he pulled out his book and opened it. The silver head ignored the audible crack of wood coming from the tall man's direction as he came to a rather steamy scene in his favorite book.
"Say that one more time, bastard monkey! I'll show you small! I will show you why I'm revered as one of the most dangerous swordsmen of the mist!"
"Did you say something, little one?" Kakashi asked nonchalantly as he peered over his book to see a red-faced swordsmen, much to his amusement. It's like Gai all over again...
Seeing the impeding battle, a blushing and greatly embarrassed Haku rose quickly to her feet and headed outside, away from the enraged missing-nin and cool-looking shinobi. It was too late at night to be dealing with that situation.
As she stepped out into the night, a refreshing breeze ruffled her long ebony locks. The muffled sounds of voices reached her ears, and she turned her gaze toward the pier farthest from the house. There, sitting and talking peacefully, on the wooden pier were Kimimaro, Kagemaru, and Naruto.
She quietly made her way toward them, however, they all sensed her approach. Glancing over his shoulder in her direction, Kimimaro beckoned Haku over.
In sure, calm steps she reached the now silent boys. Gracefully taking a seat next to Kimimaro, Haku turned her attention towards the blond who was staring at her quite blatantly.
With a slight flush in her cheeks, Haku quickly adverted Naruto's gaze. "Is something on my face, Naruto?"
At the sudden question, the whiskered boy almost fell off his perch on the pier."Wha-What? Ah.. No! Nothing at all! What makes you say that?" The flustered blond nervously rambled as he rubbed his head in embarrassment, much to Kagemaru's amusement.
"Oh, you were looking at me so intently, I thought there was something on me that I hadn't noticed earlier."
Silently cursing himself for being caught staring, Naruto sheepishly replied with a drop of sweat on his face, "Ah... No, nothing like that. I was just thinking how uh.. pretty you are."
The girl's blush threaten to consume her face, and Haku found herself feeling quite grateful for the night's darkness helping her hide it from the boys. "Thank you, Naruto. I'm flattered."
With an equally bright face, Naruto answered, "You're welcome, Haku."
With a sharp cough, Kimimaro interrupted the two blushing teens. "So as I was saying Naruto, that was how I met Lord Kakashi four years ago. I still have his headband as well." There was a irritated glint in the Kaguya's eyes and a hint of annoyance in his voice, which caused shivers to run down Naruto's spine.
"Oh, right... That's really something, who knew Kakashi-sensei was so heroic. He's such a lazy bastard to everyone else." The blond nervously answered, trying to sound casual. Man, why is it that everyone I meet I manage to piss off or embarrass...
Haku giggled softly at the annoyed look on Kimimaro's face at hearing how the blond referred to his savior.
"Naruto, must you speak of Lord Kakashi in such a way? He is after all your sensei and a very great shinobi. You should have more respect for him."
"Couldn't have said it better myself, Kimimaro. Thanks." A voice suddenly spoke up from behind the sitting trio.
"Nah, I agree with the shortie. You're nothing, but a lazy bastard, monkey."
"Hey! No one can call my sensei a lazy bastard, but me!" Naruto quickly defended much to Kakashi's joy and irritation.
"Ah, thanks Naruto... I think..." Kakashi muttered dryly.
A foxy grin lighted the blond's face. "Any time Kakashi-sensei!"
With a sigh, the silver head shook his head in silent exasperation. "Anyway Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura have already retired for the night. You should as well. We have an early day of training ahead of us tomorrow."
"What are we going to be training in? Cause this was definitely over due!"
"You'll see, now off with you."
With a sigh, the whiskered blond rose to his feet and bid goodnight to the others. "See you guys in the morning."
Once the blond and black wolf-dog entered the house, Kakashi turned toward the trio before him with a sudden sense of seriousness, quickly felt by the others.
"Now that my students are gone, I want to ask you if you will help me on a little mission."
"What's in it for us?" Zabuza rapidly questioned.
"Regardless of the mission or reward, I will do what you ask of me Lord Kakashi it is the least I could do." The white haired 15 year old said with determination.
Kakashi gave the young man a grateful look before turning toward the older man and young girl. "Thanks, Kimimaro, but it's a mission and pay off I'm sure you'll all enjoy, especially you little one."
An aggravated expression flashed dangerously in Zabuza's dark eyes before he willed it away. "Just get on with it already monkey bastard, before I loss my patience and kill you."
"Maa.. you're no fun. I want Kimimaro and Zabuza to accompany me to Gato's hide-out and rob him of all he owns. If we remove his wealth, then he can't hire anymore shinobi to come after us or Tazuna. If then, the opportunity shows itself, we may eliminate him as well."
The swordsman seemed to contemplate this for a moment before voicing his opinion. "Well, that's not such a bad idea... We'll do it if we get to keep a cut of the money."
"How about we discuss that after we've return successively from the mission, alright? We'll do this tomorrow afternoon. If you will, Haku, will remain behind and watch over Tazuna and his family, plus my cute little Genin."
"That is fine." The only girl replied with a slight bow of her head in respect to the Jonin.
A sigh escaped Zabuza knowing that his two charges were willingly to help Hatake regardless if he did, well one of them would but still, teenagers... "Alright, we'll go along with this plan of yours monkey."
"Glad we all agree." Kakashi flashed them his trademark eye smile.
The morning arrived bringing with it the fresh scent of the salty sea. It was a welcome change to the Konoha ninja who have never been to the sea.
Once breakfast was eaten and cleaned up, the shinobi shuffled outside towards the surrounding forest of Tazuna's home.
"So Kakashi-sensei what are we going to be training?" Sakura questioned as they walked further into the thick wood.
Looking over to her from his book, the Jonin replied, "It will be a chakra control exercise. It will help when it comes to doing ninjutsu and various other things."
The blond, chatting with Kimimaro and Haku, with Kagemaru padding alongside him, quickly perked up at the response and turned toward the pinkette and silver haired man with a sense of dread.
"Don't tell we're going to be doing that?"
"Oh yes, that." Kakashi said happily with a large smile portrayed by his only visible eye.
"Man, this is going to suck!" The whiskered boy wailed in despair gaining curious eyes from the quiet observers.
At the confused looks his team-mates sent them, Naruto clarified. "Don't worry about it, Sakura will probably have the easiest time with this."
"Oh, finally recognizing that I'm better than you, Naruto." Sakura replied with a smug smirk.
"No, but this exercise involves chakra, you have an incredibly small reserve of chakra, so you'll have an easy time since you won't have that much to control. While the bastard and I have to deal with large reserves."
Ignoring the shocked look of indignation the rosette gave him, Naruto turned toward the cool-looking Uchiha. "Trust me bastard, this is going to suck equally as much for me as it will for you."
"Hn, I doubt that." Sasuke scoffed as he walked forward.
"Alright fine don't believe me, but you'll see that I'm not wrong." Naruto commented with a roll of his blue eyes before returning to his conversation with Haku and Kimimaro.
Kagemaru and Kakashi picked up on what the blond was doing, but remained silent. Both sharing an amused glance before continuing on wards.
Once Kakashi found the ideal location, he stopped and explained the exercise to his students.
"Alright guys, I'm going to be teaching you how to climb trees."
An heavy silence fell around them as his two students, that weren't the blond, looked at him in disbelief and confusion.
"But we already know how to climb trees Kakashi-sensei."
"Yes, but in this exercise you can't use your hands. Only your feet."
Seeing that they were still confused, the Jonin turned toward Kimimaro who stood leaning against a nearby tree watching the genin with an amused smirk on his face.
"Would you please show my students what I'm talking about Kimimaro?"
With a respectful nod, the white haired teen walked toward a tall, oak that stood proudly in front of the genin and started to walk up the trunk with ease. He stopped when he reached a stable branch and sat down. His smirk was smug as he looked at the looks of disbelief the two genin beside Naruto had on their faces.
"How did he do that? He just walked up a tree as if it were nothing!" Sakura squeal in shock.
A twitch began to form on Naruto's brow as he addressed the shrieking girl. "It was chakra. Kakashi told us it was a chakra control exercise remember? Even I told you about it."
Shooting the blond a glare, Sakura ignored his comment and questioned the amused Jonin. "Kakashi-sensei how are we suppose to do that?"
"It's simple really. Just channel your chakra towards your feet. Too much and you'll fall off and damage the trunk in the process, but too little and you won't stick."
He paused in his explanation and tossed a couple of kunai at them. "Use these to mark your progress up the trunk. You might want to try a running a start to begin with."
After he finished, he returned to his book and watched as his students began their assignment. Well all, but one of them did.
"Naruto, you have to at least show you can do this." Kakashi said with a sigh.
A pout formed on his whiskered face. "This sucks, I don't wanna do it. It's too lame."
"Just say you can't do it loser. No need to make excuses." Sasuke chimed in with a smirk when he landed after his attempt at the tree.
A mischievous gleam twinkled in Naruto's oceanic eyes. "If you're so sure you'll reach the top before me, then why don't we make this interesting?"
"Hn."
"Right, the first one to the top gets to dare the other to do something they can't refuse."
With a smirk, Sasuke readily agreed and raced back toward the tree. His actions causing Kagemaru and Kakashi to shake their heads in exasperation. The poor kid.
A sigh from behind him had the blond turning back toward the Jonin.
"Don't make it too embarrassing alright." Kakashi commented never taking his eyes off the page he was on. A pointed look from his dark furred partner, and the blond knew that Kagemaru was siding with his elder brother on this.
Shooting the silver headed man, and lounging ninken a smug grin, Naruto headed to his own tree. Saying over his shoulder, "No promises."
The missing-nin from Kiri watched the procession with an interested gazed. Once the pair of Genin were out of hearing range, Zabuza chimed in, "So the blondie is going to win this little bet?".
"Oh, yes. Poor Sasuke was duped."
"Why so sure?" Zabuza inquired further.
With an amused gleam in his dark eye, Kakashi responded, "Because Naruto already knows how to do this, even walking on water he is proficient at. He was just being lazy about doing it earlier, and wanted his team-mates to think he struggled at it. Quite the clever little brat."
Zabuza let out a deep rambunctious laughter at that. I'm really starting to like that shrimp.
The pair was so engrossed in their conversation that they failed to notice that Naruto had already reached the very tip of his tree and was waiting for Sasuke to notice. He already had planned out Sasuke's dare. Oh, life is good...
The first one or one's, however, to notice were Haku and Kimimaro who had been watching the trio of genin with avid interest. They shared a knowing glance, and kept silent. This was going to be quite entertaining.
"Hey this is easy." Sakura called out. A smug smile on her face as she saw that Sasuke had turned to look at her in shock. Wanting to rub in her victory, Sakura searched the ground for her blond team-mate, but couldn't manage to find him.
"Hey where's that idiot, Naruto? I want him to see how better I am than him."
"You wound me, Sakura. I thought we had something special." An all too familiar voice was heard from higher up in the trees.
A shocked gasp escaped Sakura as she found the blond reclining peacefully on the highest, sturdiest branch of his tree.
"What? How did you get up there?!"
An aggravated sigh could be heard from Naruto."We already went over this Sakura. Remember? Chakra..."
"That's impossible! You cheated! You couldn't have beaten Sasuke or I!" The pinkette defended, oblivious to the angry glare Sasuke was shooting at the blond.
"Oh, but I did." Naruto stated as he calmly walked down the trunk, enjoying the furious look on the Uchiha's face as he leaped off once he was close enough to the ground, not leaving a single dent on the wood.
"Explain loser." Sasuke seethed as he stepped closer to the smug looking blond, refusing to give in and pound that ridiculous grin off his whiskered face.
Oceanic eyes gleamed with mirth at piercing black orbs, "I already knew how to do this."
"So you did cheat." His dark eyes seemed to narrow into daggers at him.
A nervous chuckle escaped the blond at the death glare, but he refused to be cowed by the last of the Uchiha.
"No, you never asked if I knew how to do this, I would have told you if you had. You just assumed I couldn't. So that means you still have to carry out the bet. Don't worry, I'll wait until the mission is over to make you carry out your part of the deal."
A small smirk formed on whiskered cheeks as Naruto further explained. "Though you should have picked up on that I did know since I knew what Kakashi-sensei was talking about earlier. It's your own fault for not paying attention to me."
Knowing he was cornered, Sasuke stormed back to his tree and began to aggressively return to his training. He was not about to be one upped by the blond loser.
Naruto turned his gaze toward an irritated looking Sakura as she returned to the ground, and shot her a smug grin.
The pinkette took offence to that and stalked off in the direction her love interest went with her head held high.
Heaving a sigh, Naruto seated himself with a shrug against a nearby tree and watched as his rival fended off Sakura's attempts to help him. The bastard should really listen to her, she did take much less time than I did when I started this stupid exercise. She'd give him some good pointers.
Finally getting bored of watching Sasuke fall on his back after each failed attempt, Naruto turned his attention to the older shinobi. He quickly realized that something was afoot as he noticed the signs of tension in his elder brother.
Glancing at Kagemaru who rested beside him, furthered his suspicions seeing that the black furred wolf-dog was just as attentive toward the conversing shinobi. Wonder what's going on with those two...
"We have to leave now if we want to reach the midget's hide-out by nightfall." Zabuza said to the reading Jonin.
Kakashi leaned back against the trunk he was currently resting on, watching the storm clouds slowly approach the small island country.
"Yes, there's a storm heading this way. It would be best if we left immediately using the rain to cover our tracts if needed." With a sharp snap, he closed his precious literature and stood up.
The bandaged swordsman beckoned over his two charges and the four discussed the final plans before finally leaving Haku to deal with the moody Genin.
Just as Kakashi had turned to trail after his partners for this mission out of the forest and head back to the house, Naruto stood in his path with a serious frown on his face.
"Why didn't you tell me you were going to raid Gato's place with Kimimaro and the old man?"
Kakashi said after a stunned moment, "It was a last minute plan I came up with. Haku is going to stay behind in case something happens while we're gone. We should be back by morning, so do me a favor and keep this between us. I'll explain to the other two when I come back."
A flash of lightning sparked in the dimming sky overhead as Naruto thought over what the older shinobi said.
"Alright, but make sure you bring me a cool souvenir as payment for my silence bro." the blond finally responded with a cheeky grin much to the silver haired man's relief. I was sure he'd throw a tantrum about being left behind.
"Sure, and help Sasuke out with this exercise will you? He'll only get more upset if he doesn't make some progress today."
Understanding the silent command, Naruto gave a short nod before reaching into his jacket pocket and pulled out a scroll. Handing it over to Kakashi, the blond was about to bound off toward where his other two team-mates were currently training, when he noticed the blank look on the Jonin's face.
"It'll come in handy trust me." The blond didn't elaborate further before he turned away leaving a baffled shinobi to pocket his gift and head after the disappearing figures of Zabuza and Kimimaro. Sensei, your little brat is full of surprises...
Dinner was unsurprisingly a quiet affair, Sasuke and Sakura didn't have the energy to argue with their blond team-mate over the mysterious absence of their sensei before turning in for the night. They also questioned the disappearance of the older male shinobi of Kiri, but after realizing that neither Haku or Naruto were saying anything on the matter, gave up and resorted to waiting until their sensei returned.
Haku and Naruto, after helping their host clean up the dinner, retreated to their sleeping quarters, praying that the guys had a successful mission without any problems. You better come back in one piece brother or else Gaara will be upset with me for not looking after you.
Three figures moved quickly through the darkening sky. The only light provided by a full luminous moon. A mist was settling over the somber terrain as the trio approached their target location.
"This mist will help conserve my chakra reserves since I'll only have to thicken it slightly. Thank God for small miracles." Zabuza muttered quietly to his silent companions as they finally arrived at the hide-out.
Gato's stronghold was a large spire-shaped structure suspended amongst great, tall trees in the forest from several bridges connected to smaller structures.
"Yes, there appears to only be two guarding the main entrance. There are about twelve standing on guard on the different bridges beside the main one. Unfortunately, we can't be sure how many are on the inside from here. Luckily, I can solve that." Kakashi thought aloud as he started to draw out a seal on a piece of paper he pulled out of his pouch.
Once he was satisfied with his work, he created a shadow clone and placed the newly written seal on it's forehead. The seal illuminated a bright blue color before replicating on the clone's forehead. A cloud of white smoke suddenly appeared when a popping sound came from the clone.
Where the Kakashi's shadow clone once stood was a small brown mouse.
"What did you just do?" Zabuza inquired as he watched the mouse scurry over to the large building.
"It was a simple henge. I used a seal to mask its chakra in case there were more shinobi on the inside that could detect it."
"I see. That is quite clever of you Lord Kakashi." The white-haired teen praised.
Kakashi smiled at the boy before turning his attention toward the building. It was fairly large with three stories of rooms that they'll have to search through.
A few more minutes passed when Kakashi received his clone's memories. Straightening his shoulders, the Jonin gave the signal for Zabuza to start thicken the mist surrounding them. Once the mist was ready, Zabuza and Kimimaro dispatched the guards on the bridges with precise shots from their senbon or bone-bullets from the latter. Those thugs were never going to bother anyone anymore.
The guards on duty never knew what hit them before darkness overcame them. The trio stood over the entrance before walking inside after hiding the bodies in some nearby bushes.
"Gato is not here. Apparently he already left to find your replacements. He left behind ten guards so it should be no problem to get rid of them all. There's two on the first level, three on the second floor, and five on the top floor."
"I'm going to go out on a limb and say that's where the main office is." Kakashi explained as they walked further into the building.
The pair nodded in understanding before they came upon the first set of guards. Much like the guards on the outside, these were just as unprepared and never got the chance to raise the alarm before they were easily placed in a genjutsu and disposed of by Zabuza's massive sword.
"This guys are just as weak as I remember." Zabuza grumbled annoyed, when an idea came to mind.
"You know, this would go much faster if we split up. Kimimaro can handle the idiots on the second floor while you and I take care of the third floor." He directed toward the silver haired shinobi.
Pondering over it for a moment, Kakashi gave a sharp nod and Kimimaro blurred away from their side, heading in the direction of the stairs. When the first signs of a fight were heard, the pair of A-class shinobi rushed past the second floor and went on toward the third.
This floor was much different compared to the rest of the building. It was more lavished and held things of great worth, explaining the increased vigilance placed there.
"Yeah, the midget had his office here somewhere. Down the hall if I remember correctly." Zabuza commented as he gestured toward his left.
Just as the pair were to turn the corner they came upon two of the five remaining guards. With fast reflex's, Kakashi launched a set of shuriken at the unsuspecting vigilantes. They were taken down as quick as a flick of a wrist.
"Well that's two, now where's the rest?" Kakashi muttered quietly as he started to concentrate his chakra toward his sense's.
With his enhanced sense of smell, he was quick to pinpoint the remaining obstacles. They were inside one of the rooms.
"That's the midget's office."
The door was shut, eliminating the chance to get the drop on them. There were a couple of methods to get this done, but Kakashi knew that they were pressed for time, and most required just that.
This might be a good time to test out that new seal Master Jiraya and I started working on...
Having made up his mind, the last living Hatake retrieved a flask of ink from his pouch along with a brush and started to map out a seal design on the wooden door.
"Hey, monkey, what the hell you doing?" Zabuza asked gruffly as he admired in interest the brush strokes on the entrance.
"It's a special seal Master Jiraya of the Sannin and I created, yet there's never been an opportunity to test it out on the field. Well... until now that is." Kakashi explained as he took a step back to admire his work.
After a few corrections, he was ready to activate it. Glancing over his shoulder, he motioned for the swordsman to step back. Placing his palm against the center of the seal, Kakashi channeled his chakra and the array glowed for a brief second before vanishing into the wood.
Minutes ticked by and no sound was heard. There was a dead silence that unnerved even the master of the silent killing technique.
Unable to hold his curiosity aside, Zabuza spoke up. "So did it work?"
Kakashi tilted his head slightly in thought before turning toward the black haired man with a smile.
"Like a charm."
As if to illustrate his point, the silver haired shinobi pulled open the door and stepped aside allowing the missing-nin to step first into the room.
Shocked awe claimed the tall swordsman. The last remaining three guards were completely unconscious on the ground. If it weren't for the slight rising and falling of their chest, he would have believed they were dead.
"What did that seal of yours do?"
A satisfied gleam shone in Kakashi's dark grey eye. "We call it the blackout seal."
"It creates this air vacuum in any enclosed space, sucking the oxygen out of the room. While at the same time, creating an unbearable pressure on the body. When exposed to the combination the body can't handle the strain and, as a way to preserve itself, shuts down."
The mask wearing man paused and gestured toward the collapsed men. "This results in a black out, and when they wake up, they will have no idea of anything that happened before hand. It will be very useful now that I know it works properly."
Shooting a wary glance at the beaming shinobi, Zabuza got an uneasy feeling at his sudden train of thought.
"Out of curiosity, what would have happened if the seal hadn't worked as you expected?"
Humming in thought, Kakashi mauled over the question. Seeing the unease in the man, Kakashi couldn't pass up the chance to mess with him. Naruto's pranking addiction is starting to rub off on me.
"Who knows... it could've cause an explosion or created a black hole and sucked us inside instantly killing us, but there's no really knowing what could've happened." Kakashi answered nonchalantly with a shrug of his shoulders, much to the annoyance of the swordsman.
A tick formed on Zabuza's barely existing brow. "You're telling me if you messed up that damn seal, we could've died?"
"Yes, instantly actually, so it's really great luck it didn't back fire on us."
A thick barrier of silence fell between the two men.
A vein pulsed dangerously on the swordsmen brow before he forced himself to calm down enough to speak. His voice was sharp and tranquil. "When we get back to the bridge builders house, I'm killing you."
A drop of sweat developed on Kakashi's temple, as he began to chuckle nervously. "Maa... no need to be so harsh. Anyway, now on to the next phase of the plan."
...
An explosion of fiery light illuminated the trio of shinobi's journey home. They sped quickly through the thick foliage, racing away from the black smoke that threaten to overtake them. It was getting harder to see with the developing storm clouds blocking the moonlight.
"Was it really necessary to destroy the hide-out?" Kimimaro questioned the older men ahead of him.
"No not really, that was all the little one's doing." Kakashi clarified giving the glowering missing-nin a smug eye smile.
Quickly defending himself, Zabuza retorted, "Well, if you hadn't let all those blondie clones do all the work then I wouldn't have gotten bored."
Intrigued, Kimimaro asked the silver haired Jonin for a clarification.
"You see, my little genin gave me a scroll before we left and said it could come in handy. I recognized the containment seal on the parchment, but there was a strange array on it that I had never seen combined with it." Kimimaro could hear the awe in the older man's tone.
"So I activated it and 50 shadow clones belonging to Naruto appeared. Turned out, he had combined a hibernation seal, which froze his chakra, and managed to contain his clones without the risk of them dispelling after being sealed. It's the first of its kind actually." Kakashi replied with a hint of pride in his voice.
With a scoff, Zabuza interjected. "Yeah, after that shrimp army appeared, the monkey had them do all the grunt work and seal all the midget's valuables into those damn scrolls. With nothing to do, I grabbed some of the monkeys explosion seals and had a little fun while I waited."
A large grin erupted on the swordsman's face at the memory of how he quenched his boredom, causing drops of sweat to appear on the other two companions brows. What an idiot... The pair thought simultaneously with a deadpanned face.
"Let's just get going. My Genin will be waking up soon and I just know they will be very moody." Kakashi sighed as he picked up his pace forcing the other two to follow at the quicken pace.
...
An icy rain showered on the early morning earth. The weather was no surprise to the trio of Genin who had seen the warning signs the day before.
"Man, in these conditions it's going to be a pain in the ass to continue training. What do you guys say to waiting this out?" Naruto suggested to his team-mates as they ate their breakfast.
Yet, before either of the two could respond another voice did. "Maa... Naruto I never took you for such a slacker."
Sighing, the blond pouted at having his free-time cut. "You always ruin my fun sensei."
Seeing the Jonin appear at the doorway alongside the other two missing-nin from Kiri, startled the Genin who hadn't sensed their arrival to the property.
"Kakashi-sensei where have you been?" Sakura exclaimed in question.
"Oh, here and there. We went to scout out Gato's hide-out, but unfortunately he had already left the place."
His answer angered the raven haired teen. "Why didn't you take us with you then? It's our mission too."
Sharing a glance with the swordsmen, Kakashi turned back toward his glowering student. "No, not necessarily Sasuke. As the Genin assigned to a mission above your experience level, your first and foremost duty is following the original mission parameters, which is guarding Tazuna. While, I, the commanding officer, take certain measures to ensure that my team is not endangered further."
Dark eyes stared impassively at the silver haired Jonin betraying no emotion, though Kakashi could see that his calculative black orbs were searching through ways to refute the claim, yet when none could be found, Sasuke resorted to glaring at the table before him.
Smirking smugly, however it was hidden from everyone present, Kakashi then turned his attention to his blond student. He could see the wheels turning inside that thick skull. Giving Naruto a meaningful look, he glanced at the surprisingly quiet female of his team.
Seeing that the Jonin's attention was on her, Sakura tried to think of something to say in order to back Sasuke up, but she was also drawing a blank. She returned her focus instead on finishing the remains of her meal with a displeased grumble.
Having gotten his Genin under control, Kakashi decided to give them a small break before they had to return to their training.
"Alright fellas, seeing that the weather is rather unpleasant at the moment, I'll allow you to take this time to relax and enjoy yourselves, but first thing tomorrow it's back to training."
Another flash of lightning and clash of thunder followed his decision as to further affirm his point, gaining him whoops of joy from Naruto and Sakura. Sasuke gave a displeased glare before walking back up to his room which he shared with the blond.
Quickly rising to her feet, the pinkette chased after the retreating boy. Her pleas to do something together fell on deaf ears as the raven picked up the pace towards the isolation of his room.
Once both were out of earshot, Naruto shed all the amusement from his sapphire eyes as he leveled a gaze at the three older men standing before him. He crossed his arms across his chest as he narrowed his eyes at the silver haired Jonin.
"So where's my souvenir?"
Chuckling, Kakashi reached into his vest and retrieved a gleaming chain of silver. He held it out towards the impatient blond, but as Naruto reached for it, the Jonin pulled it back.
"I found this in Gato's vault, but before I give this to you, answer me something. What gave you the idea to create that chakra-stasis seal?"
Grinning widely, Naruto began to elaborate on the seals creation.
"I thought of the idea when I realized that, if I could seal some of my clones I could give them to others to use in emergencies if they ever needed the help, and I would know immediately what was going on once they dispelled. It's like having a small communicable army in your hands without the immediate loss of chakra."
The three shinobi saw the boy in a new light. Such ingenuity hidden behind such a mask of naivety and idiocy. The boy was an unrefined prodigy.
Kakashi extended the chain back towards the blond who took it with brief hesitation, thinking the Jonin will the play the same trick twice.
"A necklace? What the hell Kakashi-sensei!? This is for a girl!" Naruto fumed as he inspected the sparkling jewelry.
With a crinkle in his visible eye, the silver haired shinobi began to explain his odd gift.
"It's not meant for you Naruto, but for that pretty little girlfriend of yours. Don't you want to give her something nice? Girls love gifts after all, especially expensive and sparkly ones."
Naruto wasn't exactly on the same wavelength as the Jonin, since he tended to have very strange thoughts, that it was hard to properly understand him at times.
Inspecting the necklace dangling in his hand, the blond couldn't help, but praise Kakashi's taste in jewelry. It was a simple design, but quite elegant. Seeing the suspended amethyst tear-drop gem held between twin chains of silver, Naruto knew that Ino would love it.
Glancing back towards the expectant Jonin, the blond noticed that Zabuza and Kimimaro standing behind Kakashi were eyeing him curiously with that same dumbstruck expression, though Kimimaro masked his better.
"What? Something you wanna say?" Naruto gruffly called out.
With a raised brow, Zabuza asked. "You have a girlfriend blondie? How the hell did that happen?"
A crimson blush spread quickly to across his whiskered cheeks. "Wha- No, we're just friends!"
With a sly grin portrayed by his visible dark eyes, Zabuza prodded the blond Genin further. "Oh, then why did you get such a stupid grin on your face after the monkey told you it was meant for that girl of yours?"
I did what? Naruto cursed his inability to mask his emotions better and prayed for a rescue for the pestering swordsman. It seemed there was a God above when Haku appeared through the doorway from the kitchen.
"Master Zabuza, Kimimaro, it is good to see you have returned well. You as well sir Kakashi."
The shinobi greeted her, but when Zabuza turned back to annoy the blond, he found that the Genin had quickly fled the dining room and was no where to be seen.
"He's very quick when he wants to be, little one." Kakashi chuckled as headed toward his own room to rest.
Upset that his fun was cut short, the Mist missing-nin left, grumbling curses under his breath, for his own bed to catch up on some sleep.
Frowning, Haku turned toward her childhood companion. "Did I miss something?"
With a sigh, Kimimaro shook his head in exasperation. "Trust me when I say we're surrounded by idiots."
...
A week passed with no more incidents and the weather had been pleasant after the shinobi had returned from their impromptu mission, allowing the Genin to train further in their chakra control. Naruto had ultimately helped his raven haired team-mate, much to the both their annoyance, and now Sasuke's chakra control was up to par with the rest of his team.
Waiting on the bridge to reach the final stage of completion, the seasoned shinobi could feel a building tension appear in the shape of a condense fog.
No clouds in the sky, but the sun was hidden, lost behind the swirling dust and mist and chunks of dirt that clogged the air, surrounding the bridge as Team Seven and Zabuza alongside Kimimaro, arrived on the stone bridge to see absolutely no sign of any of the workers who had previously been there the days before.
"Where the hell is everyone?" Naruto asked aloud to the others.
"I'd say that midget has finally made his move." Zabuza responded, a grip on his swords handle ready to unsheathe it if necessary.
A sweaty mist carried by the wind off the raging waves below the stone arch was of no comfort to the inexperienced Genin. It seemed to blind them even more, as if they were stepping into a whirling, warm cloud, swallowed by it, vanishing. There was a kind of noisy hollow silence many of them had never experienced before.
Even Naruto and Sasuke, the most hardy of the three, were feeling the palpable tension of the atmosphere. Something was out there. The blond could sense the chakra signatures moving closer, yet skimming the surface of his detecting radius, making it difficult to know their exact location.
"There's several chakra signatures heading our way, but I can't pinpoint them. It's almost as if they know my radius limit."
Kakashi heard the blond's assessment and tensed further. These new opponents were no easy prey then. They were experienced and skilled enough to avoid immediate detection.
"Team, manji formation around Tazuna. Don't break formation, unless it is unavoidable." He flicked his narrowed gaze at the blond who nodded in return. Message understood.
"Little one, try and do something about this mist. I don't want to be blinded side." Kakashi continued.
With a curse toward the Jonin, and the swordsman cleared the heavy fog, relieving some of the stress from the youngest of the ninja gathered and lone civilian.
"Kagemaru, can you smell in which direction their coming?"
The black wolf-dog raised his muzzle upwards hoping to catch a strong scent from his position beside Naruto.
"The majority are approaching from the left. Two are going around on a boat toward the bridge builders house."
All present, aside from the blond and Jonin, were shocked to hear the clear speech from the massive canine.
"The mutt can talk?" Sakura exclaimed loudly.
Glowering at the pinkette, Kagemaru snarled in warning. "Yes, I can. Now don't raise your voice again, you may have already given our position away."
"Save it Sakura, and don't call Kagemaru a mutt got it?" Naruto defended his partner, earning himself a grateful nod from the black furred wolf-dog.
Quickly shutting up, the female Genin mentally promised revenge on the blond and dog before resuming her protective stance.
Ignoring the bickering between his students, Kakashi focused on the battle ahead.
"It was good luck Haku remained behind, she can handle the two at the house. Can you tell how many are coming from the left?"
With a grimace, the black animal shook his head negatively. "There are too many scents mingling together to make an accurate determination, but I would roughly say about ten to fifteen."
"Oh very close... How about twelve?" A gruff voice boomed over the disappearing mist.
Standing before them were twelve shinobi bearing the symbol of a musical note on their headbands. A number of them armed with strange weapons attached to their forearms and swords in their hands.
"Kakashi-sensei, those markings on their headbands which village is that? I've never seen it before?" Sakura asked with a bit of fearfulness in her voice.
Kakashi hid a grimace at seeing the small contingent. "They are from the new hidden village of Sound located somewhere in Tea Country, no one knows the exact location however or its leader."
"The midget must really be desperate to go and hire these guys. They all look about Chuunin to Jonin level." Zabuza commented as he began to unravel his enormous blade.
"The tall man in the middle must be the leader, he's the one who spoke earlier." Kimimaro chimed in his own assessment.
Nodding absentmindedly, Kakashi noted that the man Kimimaro pointed out was also probably the strongest out of all of them. He quickly formulated a workable strategy.
"Well there's twelve of them and six of us. So Sakura your job is guard Tazuna. Boys work together and get four of them. Zabuza and I will get three each, leaving Kimimaro to deal with the remaining two." The Jonin hastily whispered to those around him.
Seeing everyone nod in understanding, Kakashi shot forward first, kunai in hand, with Zabuza by his side with his sword extended in front of him.
Waiting for the enemy shinobi to break away, Naruto and Sasuke stood ready in front of their female team-mate and client. Kimimaro was standing a few feet away with narrowed observant eyes.
"Sakura, make sure you pay attention to your surroundings. Don't let your guard down for anything, got it." Sasuke surprisingly instructed the girl who gulped and nodded mutely. Her eyes flickered around searching for anything with her own kunai knife held shakily in front of her.
Before he could say anymore, Naruto startled the last Uchiha by snarling a battle cry and blocked several shuriken before they could reach him. Reluctantly sending the blond a grateful nod, Sasuke stood in his taijutsu stance just in time to intersect a punch from one of the sound ninja with his forearm.
As the raven matched the Chuunin punch for punch, Naruto was blurring in between two ninja. Exchanging blows while trying to gauge the others level as they increased the amount of power and speed. In one decisive maneuver, the blond used the momentum from a kick against one of his opponents as he grabbed the extended wrist and yanked the older shinobi into the other.
While the pair was down, Naruto pulled out a two slips of paper and attached them to the Oto ninja's bare necks. Instantly, they were frozen stiff, unable to move anymore, except to breathe.
Standing cheekily before them, the blond decided to enlighten them before moving on to help his team-mate.
"Those are paralysis seals. You guys aren't going anywhere until they're taken off." With a smug little wave, Naruto hurried over to help Sasuke as another Oto ninja joined his comrade in fending the Genin off.
"About time, loser."
"Ah can it, bastard." Naruto grumbled as he held his ground against a significantly better opponent then the previous two he dealt with.
Naruto spared Sasuke no more words as he charged at the Oto ninja at an incredible speed. The raven haired Uchiha may have been fast, but his speed was no where near what Naruto could reach. It was something that Sasuke was reluctant to admit even to himself.
Between the two of them, Naruto and Sasuke made quick work of the opponents. After slapping another set of paralysis seals on the sound shinobi, the pair had finished in time to see the awe-inspiring skill of Kimimaro.
"Is that a bone sword?" The blond asked his equally as astounded team-mate.
"Looks like it. Must be some kind of Kekkei Genkai."
The words triggered a past memory, almost forgotten by the blond.
"It was madness that drove them. They were a brutal clan from Kiri who had thrived on their own strength. No one really knows what caused them to attack however. I just hope that at least one survives this tragedy." The elder Hokage began to explain.
"How come old man? They sound like really bad people." Naruto commented as he sat down on the couch.
"One must look underneath the underneath Naruto. This clan possessed a very rare and powerful Kekkai Genkai. It would be such a shame for it to not live on."
"What was the Kekkai Genkai?" Gaara chimed in.
"The Kaguya clan had the ability to control their bones. Shape it, create it, and even strengthen it. It was amazing to watch them fight. The most powerful of them could even form shields of their very bones to cover every part of their body. It was incredible."
At the sudden remembrance, Naruto looked up the dancing swordsman with a hint of awe and much more weary than he was before.
"Kaguya..." The blond whispered, in an almost reverent tone. He was heard by his raven haired team-mate.
"Kaguya?" Sasuke inquired with a raised brow.
With a nod of his head, Naruto gestured toward the white-haired fifteen year old. "The Kaguya clan was from the village Hidden in the Mist. They rebelled against their village a few years back and were slaughtered. It was rumored that none had survived. Yet, seeing Kimimaro's manipulation of his bones, I can see that isn't true."
"What makes you say that?"
"The Kaguya clan had a special Kekkei Genkai which allowed them to manipulate their own bones into weapons and shields, just like Kimimaro's doing now."
Nodding in understand, Sasuke noticed that the blond was quite informed about them. "How do you know so much about them anyway?"
Shrugging off his question, Naruto searched for a plausible excuse. "Well, I read up on Kekkei Genkai's once and they were one of the most notable clans. It's actually kind of a good thing one of their clan stills lives to pass on the trait. It's a very valuable Kekkei Genkai after all."
Not bothering to question the boy further, Sasuke, and Naruto, turned their attention to a more interesting subject. Their sensei's and the missing-nin's battle.
"It's nice to see that the rumors about you two weren't exaggerated. The great Copy-Nin of Konoha and the Demon of the Mist. It's an honor to be the one to kill such fearsome foes!" The leader of the Sound shinobi exclaimed with a wicked laugh after the pair had dispatched the last of his team, leaving only him remaining.
"Now let's see if you can hold up against the might of Sound shinobi!"
The tall, broad shouldered man struck with two punches only to be met with the blocking forearm's of Kakashi. Zabuza followed up with a round house kick to unbalance the man, but that was blocked easily in return.
Blows and kicks were launched, dragging the battle longer, yet the lone sound ninja managed to evade them. However, he wasn't gaining much ground, frustrating him.
"I've wasted enough time. I'll show you the true power of one of the most strongest members of Oto! Behold a gift given to me by our master. A gift only a select few are even given the chance to taste."
A sudden tainted chakra arose from within the sound shinobi. Black, scrawling markings began to form across his face and arms, until only half of his face was still clear of the black taint.
Orochimaru's curse mark? Kakashi thought grimly. The battle just got a whole lot more complicated.
"What the hell's on that guys face?!" Zabuza choked out in alarm, voicing the on-lookers unheard question. The sound shinobi wasn't pretty to begin with, but now he just got much more ugly.
"It's a curse mark, which strength's the holder. This guy is a serious threat, so don't take him lightly." The silver haired Jonin explained tensely.
A wave of bloodlust rushed over the bridge, and the A-class shinobi prepared them-selves for much more difficult battle.
"I'll kill you all!" The Oto ninja's voice shook with barely restrained insane glee.
...
A/N: Sorry for the very late update! Class work dominated my life for a while, but I'll try and update sometime next week. As compensation I made the update twice as long! If you have questions ask me and I'll answer in a PM as soon as I can!
Hope you enjoyed! Don't forget to review and follow! Until next time dear readers!