This is long as shit, as promised because it took a week to write (10k words compared to the normal ~4k). It's a bit different then the other chapters because I threw in another POV. I feel like seeing their mind now might better explain their motives later. I also hope you don't mind but this chapter is a little more graphic (nothing too bad, but I figure you deserve a warning.)This is also the conclusion of the wave arc; next chapter, we should be back in Konoha. Please let me know if you have any question or concerns in a review or PM because its always nice to have feedback! (or if you wanna say nice stuff to me that's cool too)
Next chapter is Next Friday/ Saturday morning. Enjoy!
~Linebreak~
The only warning we had was the heavy stench of blood. Kakashi must've recognized it, however I had neither the senses nor the experience to notice the smell. Naruto did have the senses, having spent the better part of the last two week honing them, but could not yet place the cloying, metallic smell of blood.
For whatever reason Kakashi-sensei didn't warn us beforehand. (Maybe he thought it was just hired thugs; we had been expecting Zabuza for days now, with no sign of him. Perhaps we were wrong and the man had actually been killed. Or maybe sensei just thought that we worked better under pressure. Regardless, for whatever reason, we walked into the situation metaphorically and literally blind.) The mist was heavy around us, thick and swirling, dampening our senses on everything around us and muffling our footsteps.
Naruto noticed before me and I noticed before Tazuna. I was only a moment behind Naruto because I still felt the chakra signatures around us. The still and quiet predawn air was so serene that my reaction to noticing the body on the ground next to me was very underwhelming. I almost didn't react at all; I suppose I just wasn't ready to witness a massacre like this. Peering through the fog I noticed more people ('soon to be corpses if they don't get treatment' I thought in a faraway voice) lying on the ground. It was about that time that Tazuna finally noticed his fallen colleagues and his reaction was much louder than my detached silence or Naruto's shocked exclamation. The man let out an emotional roar; I wasn't sure what he was feeling more of: grief, anger, despair? The three seemed to tie for priority in his cry.
"They're still alive, if only barely. Not for much longer, but I wasn't paid to kill them so I didn't make it a priority." Zabuza's low voice came from ahead of us on the bridge. I strained my eyes, trying to see through the mist, but in the early predawn light, there wasn't much to make out. His voice held cold clinical detachment with just a hint of wry humor. If it wasn't for the subject matter, I would've said that he had a nice voice. As it was, I was still coldly assessing all the damage I could see and folding it in with my mental profile of the missing nin. Kakashi had informed us of just some of his exploits and handedly showed us his BINGO book page, but this level of attack, even against untrained civilians, was unreal. I mean sure, in the fight with sensei he had shown himself to be a more than capable ninja, but this was overwhelming.
All the bridge workers who'd arrived here before us were out of commission. And that was most of them because they lived closer to the worksite then Tazuna, and by extension us. Somehow Zabuza had managed to disable, not kill, every one of them. And I didn't notice any sign of a struggle; no excess blood spatters, or thrown tools to show that any of the workers had even noticed there incoming demise.
And that was terrifying. Because Zabuza had managed to attack everyone, silently, leaving them disabled enough that they didn't cry out any warnings to their peers, but alive enough that Naruto and I hadn't noticed any missing chakra signals. While I had read his BINGO book page, clearly it was either underestimating him—or he was had improved vastly beyond his profile. And the latter was more likely considering he had hidden a companion with him, one who Kakashi had never heard of, even in rumors about the swordsman.
"Kakashi, you're a real ninja. Not like those brats. Give up the old man and you can go. I'll even let your brats walk away, free to hug a tree another day." He gave a soft but menacing chuckle.
"You two will be guarding Tazuna." Kakashi ignored the taunting voice and readied himself, pulling out a standard kunai from his pack.
(Part of me took the second to marvel at how amazing our jonin sensei was; standard kunai were used by genin and some chunin who hadn't found a more custom style. Most experienced chunin and higher used kunai more suited to their style, such as Asuma-sensei, the Ino-Shika-Cho sensei, who used blades tailored to his wind style, or the Yellow Flash, yondaime, who was renown for his three pronged kunai. And yet, against one of the seven swordsmen of the mist, my sensei had the balls, and ability based on his previous fight, to use a standard kunai. Against a fucking ginormous sword. Against a man that could swing said giant's sword one handed with no visible effort. Just…wow.)
"You're gonna fight? And die for this old man? Why do you even care?" Came the still clinically detached response. "This isn't your fight. This isn't even your country. He can't be paying you enough. The whole country is broke; why risk it? Risk your brats?"
All of these were valid points. When I later looked back on this fight, I might even realize right here was the moment I began to truly splinter from my old life. (I had been a good sport about reincarnations, ninjas, chakra, future murder lined career, living in a story book, everything. But risking my life? And my team mates life? For an inconsequential man who had lied to us about mission parameters?) If I had a vote, I would have voted to leave this miserable country behind. And my past life vehemently rejected the idea of abandoning a country to a mafia style cartel. In my past life, I had lived by a moral code: if you have the power to do something, and you chose to do nothing, you are a part of the evil you despise in the world.
In this world I had power, and I had timing and I had locality. I literally would have gone to the ends of the earth to help Wave Country in my past life. And yet here I was, coldly analyzing the situation and considering abandoning this country to their deaths for the sake of surviving another day. Thankfully, I had two teammates who kept me grounded for another day at least.
"NO WAY, DATTEBAYO. THESE PEOPLE NEED THIS BRIDGE AND WE"RE GONNA HELP THEM MAKE IT!" Naruto was the first respond, his fists balled at his side and his face set and determined. Kakashi let out a soft chuckle in front of us.
Speaking to the swirling mists, Kakashi added his two cents: "We are ninja of Konoha and our mission is to protect the bridge builder. We will not fail our mission."
Another soft laugh from Zabuza echoed around the mist, even as Kakashi focused his chakra and pushed it outward, clearing the bridge of mist for the moment. Standing about 50 yards off from us was Zabuza, demon of the mist, and his hunter-nin partner. I stiffened at the sight of them. While in our last fight, we had all managed to avoid the monster sized sword, from where I now stood, I could see the dark stain on the blade. It brought up some terrifying memories, but I pushed them to the side, taking deep breaths and focusing on the mission and protecting Tazuna.
"Kage, you're going to stay and protect Tazuna. Naruto, you're going to handle the other ninja. You've been working on your dodging, but be careful; the hunternin was deadly accurate with their senbon." Kakashi corrected his earlier statement, his voice serious, out of character for the relaxed sensei I had grown accustomed to, "I've dispelled my shadow clone, so hopefully Sasuke realizes that something's going on and comes to join us. Naruto, you should be able to handle the missing nin, while you" He motioned towards me with his chin, his eyes never leaving Zabuza, "Will be able to guard Tazuna." I gave a stiff nod.
"I recognize him." Naruto admitted in an uncharacteristically quiet voice.
What.
"What?" Kakashi echoed, sounding surprised and worried.
"Sasuke and I met him in the woods one day before we started training. He said he was protecting his precious people…" I had no response to that. I'd already noted that I didn't have any feelings one way or the other about this mission. It was just a mission, that had gotten much more dangerous then we signed up for; we were well within our rights to abandon it. But Naruto had gotten attached. To Inari and Tsunami, and to Tazuna who was doing so much for his community. "…But I guess so do we."
So while I had no words, no more words needed to be said. We all stood quietly, eyeing the other side, waiting for something to happen. And again, there was the discrepancy between my past life and my current life, because I was excited ('That wasn't the word… Anticipatory? Eager?') for this fight to begin. While I was scared to be facing down opponents so out of our league, I was ready to start the fight. Clearly the two jonin agreed because at some unseen signal, they launched at each other (Even though they were both wearing masks, I swear I could see the animalistic smiles on their faces), Kakashi moving quicker so that they met about two-thirds of the way down the bridge. Naruto followed suite, moving slower then sensei, and the masked man met him about a third of the way down the bridge.
The fights were intense for different reasons: Naruto was still spamming clones, but they were doing well dodging the senbon. They were also flinging some of the clones at the masked man, attacking him with fists and kunai before dispersing in smoke to his counterattack. It was uncoordinated and undeniably effective and 100% Naruto.
Kakashi's fight on the other hand, was quick and deadly. The two met each other strike for strike, steel flashing for a second as they nimbly danced around each other, searching for an opening. For every strike Naruto and the missing nin threw, Kakashi and Zabuza threw 20. The levels of engagement were so vastly different it was like the difference between day and night.
"Stay back here and don't move no matter what. It's easier to protect you if I know exactly where you are at all times." I motioned to where Tazuna should stand and pulled out my own kunai, quickly doing the hand seals for my family jutsu so that if the need arose, I needed only think the movement. The fight moved quickly, the minutes passing slowly mostly in tense silence except for the sound of heavy breathing, harsh metal colliding, and the tinkling of senbon being deflected and falling to the ground. Again, at some unseen signal, the two jonin jumped apart eying each other.
"Your brats improved." Zabuza noted impassively.
"You have a brat of your own." Kakashi noted with just as much inflection. The heavy breathing was coming from Naruto, masked ninja, and Tazuna who was having a minor panic attack. The two older ninja hardly seemed winded. Naruto and the masked ninja took advantage of the lull in the battle to also hop apart.
"Haku is a tool I picked up a few years ago. You might have heard of the Kiri blood purges, Kakashi?" It was said conversationally, but anyone could read the subtext. Haku had a bloodline limit. Haku was Dangerous, capital D. Zabuza continued while Haku stood impassively watching Naruto catch his breath. "Not only does he have a bloodline limit; he's also able to analyze a situation and completely break it down. He knows how to defeat an enemies greatest strength through observation. And he was observing out first match."
Fuck. Repeat: Fuck. This was so not good. Zabuza continued while I mentally began to panic.
"Without your sharingan you're useless Kakashi. I lost the battle once I let you hypnotize me into thinking you could read my mind, that you could predict my movements. But what will you do if you cant see? You've grown complacent. Ninja need to rely on all their senses, but you relyon that eye. And without it, you would have lost our last fight. Without it you will be nothing! HIDING IN THE MIST JUTSU!"
"Are you serious? That's the best plan you could come up with in two weeks? I mean I know sensei is good, but like I could come up with 3 better ideas on the fly…"
Naruto and sensei both snorted and even through the ever growing mist, I could see Zabuza swing his head around to glare at me. "Did I say that out loud? Cause I definitely didn't mean to. You're ahhh… very intimidating and I'm sure using the mist will work for you. This time." I couldn't bite back the snarky reminder that he had used mist in our first fight to little effect.
Still, this mist felt heavier than before. More dampening on sound and smell. It was also chakra heavy to the point that I could no longer sense Naruto or Sensei's familiar signatures, let alone the two enemies. I took a step back, pushing closer to Tazuna. While I couldn't see anything, I was certain that the first attack would be at Tazuna. Not because I had just annoyed the ninja (Although that certainly helped) but because he was turning out to be semi-predictable. He would taunt Sensei, let him know how much he wanted to kill him, then he would turn around and ignore sensei and aim for Tazuna. It was the most illogical thing to do; to ignore the jonin aiming for your head, but it was so impractical that it worked. It was unlike sensei to ever do something so outrageous so it took Kakashi longer to guess the plan.
Sure enough Zabuza's voice crept out ominously from all directions again taunting Sensei and his reliance on his eyes. I frowned trying to ignore him and put all my efforts into my surroundings. A little ways off, I could hear the missing nin in a soft voice apologizing to Naruto. (That doesn't sound very good. I hope Sasuke understood sensei's hint and shows up. He should already be on his way if he did get underlying message, but then again, perhaps he won't even notice the clone is missing? Or perhaps he needs to protect Tazuna's family? I shrugged off the thought, unable to allow myself another worry.)
"Argh!" Naruto let out a cry. I tensed, but didn't move. For one, in the swirling mists, I couldn't correctly predict which direction the scream had come from and I didn't trust the genjutsu laden air to not mislead me in a walk off the bridge and to my death. For a second reason, Zabuza was still talking and I was sure he was going to attack any second.
I forced myself to relax. I needed to be ready for this. I was planning on doing something (very) stupid and I needed to make sure I got it right. Zabuza had seen my current level of shadow techniques. So I had begun practicing the next level of my okaa-san's technique, even though I wasn't supposed to without supervision. Still, it was probably my best chance to keep Tazuna and myself from imminent death until Sensei realized what was what.
Sure enough, Zabuza came for us, swinging his sword. I felt the blast of ki a second before I saw him, but I didn't wait for visual confirmation. Focusing all my chakra I closed my eyes for a second, visualizing the exact angle I would need, then I built with the shadows from the mist. I created a tilted pillar of shadow, much harder than my typical tentacle. This shadow construct would one day be enough to block such a blow, but for now, it was not yet strong enough to block a sword swing from a jonin. Instead, I was relying on general physics course I had taken in undergrad to get me by. The pillar was at a sharp angle, more then 45 degrees out of the ground and I watched the savage look on the missing nin's face change to unadulterated anger as the sword skidded up on the ramp I had created, its energy redirected into friction and upwards momentum instead. My shadow still formed cracks but I clasped my hands together tighter, still in the final ram seal of the technique, trying to focus my energy, hoping the structure would hold. Sensei rushed over us, having noticed the killing intent. His kunai in hand, he came from behind me, ducking under my shadow pillar, striking for Zabuza's neck, but the ninja blocked with his forearm.
Zabuza launched himself back, retreating into the mist. But not quick enough. Kakashi followed, tracking him with his eyes as best he could. A trail of blood followed Kakashi, dripping from the kunai. Even in his anger at being thwarted, Zabuza quickly melted back into the shadows, the ki vanishing just as quickly as it appeared. Kakashi also disappeared. I heard more steel colliding as the two ninja met, then more silence. I was once again blind to the situation. I could also hear muffled groans and small cries, but I couldn't place whether they were the masked ninja, or Naruto. I hoped for one and prayed against the other.
I was worried about Naruto. I didn't want to hear him scream again, but it was confirmation that he was alive; I could recognize his voice and be sure it was him. The loud ninja normally gave periodic whoops of joy and I wished he would do so now. I stretched my senses out again, as far as I could. Nothing. I knew there were people around me which meant the fog was so dense that it muted everything around me. The fight had been more than 20 minutes this time. And as dense as this fog was, chances were that Zabuza couldn't maintain it that much longer. The amount of chakra in the air betrayed how draining this technique must be.
I took a deep breath, trying to focus myself and recover from using the my okaa-san's technique. It had been a gamble, a calculated risk, that had paid off but only barely. I had drained my chakra to a little less than a third of my reserves. I was now playing on the bluff that I could do that again, hoping that Zabuza would call me on it. Tazuna was shaking slightly; whether it was from fear or shock, I couldn't be certain. Zabuza chose to speak up again:
"Your student's nearly dead. He cant hope to face Haku with his blood line limit active. There's a reason Kiri nearly killed them all off; with a Kekei Genkai, ninja like Haku are nearly unstoppable."
There came another strangled cry from Naruto. I wondered what the blood line technique was. I also wondered again how long the mists would be kept up. The silence extended and I ached for something. The silence and the waiting was enough to drive me insane. I counted in my head, because if I didn't the long minutes would have seemed like hours or days. Finally, I heard a small commotion, more heavy breathing and then…barking?
"ARGH" Like a movie from my past life, the mist blew away in a sharp gust as Zabuza swung around, trying to fling dogs off of himself. I remembered from my past life that Kakashi had a really cute talking pug. Clearly I didn't remember the other 7 dogs sensei owned.
"I may have been relying on the sharingan in my more recent years, but I started as a tracker. All my senses are above average, almost as good as an Inuzaki." He stepped slowly towards Zabuza preforming rapid hand seals in such quick succession, I couldn't count how many there were. A lot, as far as I could see. His right arm lit up with bright white chakra, cracking with electricity I had never felt in this new life. The whole area felt static charged and I wondered if my hair was standing up even more then usual. ('Maybe that's why Kakashi's stands up?') Kakashi took a step, then a half step, then he was darting towards Zabuza, swinging his lightening arm towards Zabuza. The dogs jumped off with practiced timing and Zabuza moved to block, but it was too late because then Kakashi's arm literally went right through Zabuza. My mouth hung open. It was a bloody mess behind Zabuza, his innards blasted out behind him, but there were none of the puddle of blood I had expected. Which meant that Kakashi's jutsu had literally cauterized the wound as it struck.
Another slight cry came from Naruto's direction. I pivoted in that direction, but made no move. I felt like the fight was wrapping up, but I didn't let my guard down. I was still eager to fight, to do something and the heart pounding encounter with Zabuza earlier hadn't dissuaded me in the slightest. I was like an adrenaline junkie after my next rush. I needed to do something. I wanted to rush towards…whatever the fuck ice thing I was looking at but I couldn't yet abandon Tazuna. Especially as I heard Zabuza and Kakashi beginning their deadly dance again.
('He can still move fairly well with a hole in his stomach. The fact that the wound cauterized means Zabuza isn't at risk of bleeding out.' I mentally noted for the after mission debrief, 'Which isn't ideal for a fight like this because it allows Zabuza to continue with minimal discomfort considering.')
A flash of blue caught my attention out of the corner eyes and I spun quickly eyeing the new threat. "I think only Sensei is allowed to be late." I deadpanned to Sasuke. He gave a small smirk but didn't answer, moving towards Naruto's location. "It's a bloodline!" I called after him quietly. He gave a small wave in acknowledgment, and edged his way around the ongoing jonin fight.
"Another brat? Haku will kill him too." Zabuza sounded worse for wear. Kakashi and him split-up again and they were both closer to where I stood. I took advantage of his proximity, checking out his wounds. I flicked my gaze over his sternum and stomach and studied the hole. It was his lower stomach, but he had dodged well all things considered, because it seemed Kakashi had missed Zabuza's vital organs. It probably nicked his colon and his left kidney, but that wasn't enough to immediately end the fight. My fearful admiration of the man grew. He was insanely good, and I had never been more glad that sensei for sensei's own expertise. Zabuza continued in his ragged voice, "Haku is a tool I've been training for years. He's a heartless shinobi machine; what about your brats? Do they have the heart for this? For the dark side of shinobi life?"
It sounded like a demented and twisted form of competitive bragging of football dads in my past life; Zabuza bragging about Haku's ability to maim and murder like a proud father. Kakashi replied in turn.
"You're facing the best and brightest that the leaf has to offer." He nodded towards the ice structure that Sasuke had slipped into. "That right there is the rookie of the year, but he's much more then that. He's a near prodigious talent, with all the abilities that comes with."
"Surely you don't think your brats are ready for this. For ninja life. For murder and death." Zabuza actually sounded more disbelieving then in pain, so clearly he was actually doubtful in our abiliity. Still I wondered if that was from what we had shown him or from his impression of the innocent, self proclaimed 'good guys' reputation that the leaf promoted.
('If the greatest trick the devil ever pulled off was convincing the world he dint exist, then the greatest trick the leaf ever pulled was convincing the world that we were the innocent and good village. We were just as dark as any other.')
"Not entirely. He's one of the best, true, and he's got the potential as one of the best of his generation. He is still a fresh genin. But my team tends to work best under pressure. And here he is, ready to defend his team, fresh compared to the exhausted state your disciple must be in. So I think you can guess who think will win? A kekkei genkai in use over 10 minutes? Or a fresh set of eyes, so to speak.?"
I wondered why sensei was bluffing so hard. As far as I knew, Sasuke hadn't actually activated his bloodline limit yet. Still I was sure that sensei could handle Zabuza now. So I just trusted in Sasuke and Naruto to handle the other ninja.
Sasuke POV:
The day started normally; or as normal as can be when you're living out of someone else's house in the middle of a mission in a poor country facing a depression. I got up, kicked the dobe awake, and ignored Kage's sleeping form. As the rookie of the year, I was intelligent enough to not make the same mistake twice because Kage was not a morning person. And frankly, although I'd never tell her, the innocent smile she had when she said she wasn't going to take revenge was scarier then anything I had ever seen.
As was usual for the mission, I was the first of the genin awake, so I managed to get ready with no interruptions or rushing. I made my way downstairs munching on half of a ration bar and mumbling a hello to Sensei, Tazuna, Tsunami, and Inari. Sensei motioned to the seat next to him and I obliged, sitting down a little less gracefully then usual in my sleepy haze. He poured a cup of tea for me and then went back to cupping his own tea.
"I was speaking with Tazuna here about the plan today. It's going to be the same thing we've been doing. I'm hopeful that Zabuza was hurt worse then we expected because we still haven't seen any sign of him. Kage-chan and Naruto-kun are with me to the bridge today, and you're here training with a clone Sasuke." I nodded, hiding the shiver at the mention of sensei's clone. I couldn't deny my techniques had improved, but sensei was a vicious teacher. He played mind games just as well as he physically trounced Naruto and I. Nothing he did was normal or expected and I was beginning to think the term outside the box didn't exist for sensei— I don't think the box ever existed for him.
A few minutes later a cheery looking Naruto bounced into the room. I twitched. While I had no issue waking up, that didn't mean I was happy to be awake. Naruto on the other hand was like a switch; either dead asleep, or so wide awake and loud that the next two countries could make out what he was saying clearly. I was just grateful that he didn't snore. I didn't like loud noises or spaces so I sleep was at least peaceful for me.
"Naruto-kun, you and Kage-chan are at the bridge with me and Tazuna this morning. Finish your bar and be ready to go. We need to leave soon." Naruto happily obliged, reaching to the center of the table and pouring himself some juice to go along with it. Sensei left to go wake our third teammate.
When we heard a loud thump and then her swearing, Naruto made eye contact with me snickering. I couldn't suppress a smirk. While I actually had (shockingly) found Kage to not be the waste of space I expected of her and Naruto, she was too lazy and uncouth for a kunoichi. Naruto too seemed to love when the small girl was rudely awoken by Kakashi sensei. He'd explained without prompting during one of their sparring sessions that Kage was scary when she was being woken up and that seeing Kakashi sensei do it without any extra effort was 'payback for over the years.'
A few minutes later a grudgingly awake Kage joined us in the kitchen munching on her own breakfast. She didn't say anything and barely acknowledged anyones presence, but she wasn't a morning person like Naruto so it didn't bother me like it had the first few days. Now I appreciated the silence she offered compared to Naruto constant setting of LOUD. Kage was followed by two sensei's; one started moving along Naruto, Kage and Tazuna, while the other unashamedly flirted with Tsunami, the bridge builders daughter. I sighed knowing from experience now that if I didn't drag him away, he would stay here all day flattering the civilian girl.
"Sensei, it's time to train. Let's go." I moved right in the middle of the two and crossed my arms. I waited till sensei moved, letting him lead the way. (earlier in the week, he had told me he was following me and I spent an hour in the woods alone searching all over for a sensei who remained in the kitchen flirting with the hostess. I was not making that mistake again) We made our way into the forest moving towards the heavily wooded clearing we had been using to practice. Scattered broken kunai and senbon littered the clearing from where Naruto had deflected them too. The dobe had improved tremendously in the past two weeks, but I wasn't quite so upset about that as I had thought I would be. Because while Naruto had improved, he also was a very good partner to train with. I knew that my own abilities had only benefited from the genjutsu and throwing practice that Kage had suggested.
Sensei read his book during the walk to the clearing, and was generally quiet which is why I almost missed him darting off into the woods. Once he disappeared, I muffled my chakra signature as best I could and hopped into the woods as well, taking care to move in the opposite direction I had seen him go. I readied myself, a kunai in my left hand and a thread of ninja wire in my right, ready to thread it and throw once I sighted sensei. I wanted to spot him first because once he started attacking me, I would be on the defensive all day.
I didn't stop, knowing from past mistakes with Naruto that the longer I stayed in one place, the easier I was to find. Instead I moved, searching the forest around me for signs that sensei had-There! Broken tree branches. Was that from sensei today? Or from sensei's training another day? The tree branch looked like it had fresh sap at the break, but I wasn't sure. I decided to follow it anyway.
There was a rustle in the bushes a little way off and a bit of smoke from a jutsu. (A kawarimi? There was definitely a slight bit of smoke, but why?) I didn't hesitate to launch my kunai at the bush, simultaneously preforming a low level genjutsu so that it appeared to be aiming for the center of the bush rather then the left hand corner it was actually destined for. There was no more movement, which meant that I had been wrong. I quickly darted off, ducking my head and hustling away.
Whenever I used genjutsu, I apparently spiked my chakra ever so slightly. It wasn't too noticeable—unless I was trying to suppress my signature like right now, in which case it lit up like a beacon. I had to get away before sensei used this opportunity to 'teach me a lesson'.
About 10 minutes later, I was no closer to finding any other sign of sensei. Even weirder was that he hadn't retaliated yet. Which was odd, because normally if I didn't find him right away, he would take advantage of his hidden location and attack me. And he was very good at attacking me and staying hidden. I had dozens of small cuts and bruises for Kage every other evening because sensei didn't believe in using dull kunai for training. He expected us to pluck the senbon out and move on.
Deciding that sensei must be up to something, I wondered what he expected me to do. I decided to do the opposite. I doubled back the way I had come until I was back in the clearing we had initially arrived at. I expected that if sensei wasn't taking training seriously by attacking me, then he must be doing something like hiding back with the bridge builders daughter again. Sure enough, on the way back, I finally saw numerous signs of movement through the woods. It put me even more on edge however, because it was so obvious. It reeked of one of Sensei's traps. Still I followed the sliced branches.
…and a sliced boar. 'Gross. Sensei's going a bit overboard. Maybe it's a genjutsu?' One Kai later proved it was very real. I frowned. Something very wrong was going on here and I wasn't quite sure what. I followed the path of carnage that led all the way back to the house. I made sure to keep my signature muffled, wary without knowing the exact reason why.
A woman screamed. I tensed more, and picked up my speed, but kept a tight rein on my chakra signature. There was my evidence that something was definitely off, and I didn't want to tip off anyone that I was coming back.
"The house is empty. Stupid tree huggers couldn't even protect you." Sneered a voice, just loud enough for me to overhear as I reached the tree line. I hung back peeking through the leaves to make out two ninja, one holding up Tsunami by her throat, the other leering at her, holding a bloody scimitar.
"P-please stop. I don't want any trouble." Her voice was faint and her face was growing slightly white from the lack of blood flow.
"Trouble found you though bitch. Gato's orders; we're here to kill you." He shook her by her neck, but she didn't say anything. From the color of her face, I suspected she didn't have the air in her lungs to respond. I held back a gag. "And your dads gonna die today too. You really think you can go against him? This whole fucking fish village is worthless. Don't worry, we're merciful. The rest will meet you in the afterlife." That was enough for me to hear. My team needed me at the bridge if they were going to be attacked today. But first…
I aimed carefully, then threw one, two, three shuriken one after the other. I was on autopilot from the academy and the two weeks of practice I'd had. The second shuriken had some wire attached, which I quickly lit up with a spark of katon jutsu, just like Naruto had suggested. It burned strong and quickly, because at Naruto's suggestion, I had soaked some wire in a flammable solution earlier this week. The ninja holding Tsunami had no idea what it him. First his wrist was hit, releasing his hold on the woman. Then his loose jacket was punctured through by the second shuriken, the fire quickly shooting down the line to spread to his clothing. It only took a few seconds for the chakra enhanced fire and flammable string to spread the fire to his body. The third projectile flew towards the second ninja, and I used a quick genjutsu Kakashi sensei had shown me to make it appear as if it were dozens. I hadn't quite perfected this genjutsu yet, and I still wasted more chakra then necessary, but the fact that his comrade next to him was literally on fire more then made up for the lack of quality in the genjutsu and he fell for it, unable to duck from the barrage of weaponry coming for him. Instead the lone shuriken hit him right in his throat, placed just where the academy had taught us to aim for.
It sliced through one of his carotid arteries and then he was clutching at his throat with his hand, trying to hold back the blood, but there was too much to hold back. It was splurted through his fingers, wetting the earth and helping to put out the his friends screaming corpse.
Tsunami looked on in horror. I joined her, frozen in shock, for once unable to hold back the emotions on my face. This was… much more then I had expected. In just a few seconds, a few blinks of an eye, with only three shuriken and a simple jutsu I had mastered at 7, I had just killed two men. I was just doing what the academy had taught me to do. I aimed for all the right spots and used all the proper techniques. Still nothing had prepared me for how…easy it was to take a life. These ninja, they could hardly be called ninja. How could someone that spent their entire lives training: die, just like that? Was that al life was worth? Was the difference between civilian and ninja so wide? With just a shuriken to the throat and a genin level ninja wire with some added katon…
I don't know how long I just stood there, watching the blackening corpse changes from screams to whimpers then silence. I cant tell you how long I eyed the man clutching his throat, twitching and the gurgling his last breaths before he joined his comrade in silence. I stood there soundless as Tsunami broke down, huge heaving sighs. It was probably too long, but I was frozen. I didn't move until Inari, his face tearstriken came out of the house shakily, holding the door frame as if it were his only grounding to the earth.
I didn't move until I saw him come out and throw himself at his mother, crying, "Thankyouthankyouthankyou."
What? That had not been what I expected. Tsunami too looked up at him, her heaving sighs momentarily abated, but still the tears dripped down her face. Inari looked up at me, still holding his mom.
"I was so scared. I'm not… I told Naruto there are no such things as heroes. And I meant it. But then mom needed help. And I just stood there. Like a coward. And she almost left me too. Just like dad… Like all my precious people do. But—Thank you. Thank you. Thank—"his voice broke, as joined his mom in his tears, the two turning to hug each other, neither letting go.
If he hadn't said exactly what he said, I wonder if I would have just stood there, a statue, for the rest of time, unable to move on from that spot. Because none of the lessons in the academy had ever prepared me for how horrible and humidifying taking a life was. None of the academy lessons even touched on the existential crisis I was confronted with. But Inari's words reached me. Me, who always focused about killing Itachi (even though killing someone had broken me a little inside, because it was so easy; so horrifyingly easy and disturbing, was that all a life was worth?) Because I also worried about being left behind. I too had been abandoned, not by choice, but abandoned nonetheless by everyone I cared about. By my mother and father, by my extended family, even by my traitorous older brother, who once I had loved above everyone else.
And right now my team was going to be facing missing ninja on the bridge. I found my voice.
"I'm going to go to the bridge now. Stay inside and stay hidden. You should be fine if stay quiet. Everyone will be back soon."
I didn't wait for an answer, instead taking off for the bridge. I had a team to look after.
~Line break~
The closer I got to the bridge, the more mist there was surrounding me. It was heavy and hard to move in almost like it was taking my breath away, but I didn't let myself slow. Instead I pushed on, even faster, sure now that there was an attack on the bridge today. I didn't slow down until I came across a body. For a second my heart stopped, caught somewhere in my throat, before I noticed it was one of the workers. Taking a deep breath, letting my tunnel vision and ringing ears recede, I continued on.
Kage was the next person I saw, considering I ignored the bodies. I quickly took in the scene. She was guarding Tazuna, and hadn't yet noticed me while Sensei was dealing with Zabuza. And Naruto must be in the giant ice thing because his amount of orange would stick out, even in this fog.
"I think only sensei is allowed to be late." Even in my foul mood, I let out a small smirk. Only Kage could be so cavalier in a tense situation. I had no idea where her dark sense of humor came from, but she had proven herself to have a gallows humor that could make me burst out laughing so loud that the bridge workers had stared. It fit that she could joke even now.
Leaving her to handle the bridge builder, which I was confident she could handle as neither her nor the man were injured, I moved quickly towards the ice structure, trying my best to skirt the jonin fight. Kakashi sensei must have noticed me because Zabuza didn't move any closer to me. "It's a kekkai genkai" Kage informed me as I angled towards Naruto.
I gave a small wave, already distracted for how to handle this. I shut out the world; I ignored the older ninja talking. There was no time to bother with them. I had to …trust…sensei. Afterall, Kage had pointed out one day, if Sensei couldn't handle Zabuza, hold him back, we were all dead anyway; the fight from two weeks ago had more then proved that when she had managed for just a few seconds and she was turning out to be no slouch.
I eyed the ice, noting from the outside that it looked like giant mirrors, which was weird. I circled the structure finding it was the same all the way around. I threw a few kunai at the mirrors, but they didn't even scratch the surface. A Great Fireball jutsu later also proved useless. I could see a flash moving within the glass, and when I focused on it, it almost seemed like a person? and I had already caught sight of Naruto. He was doing his best to dodge, but he was at an impasse. There was nothing I could for him out here. I wasted no more time, waiting for an opening, and when there wasn't any flash of color I darted in, rushing to Naruto's side.
He didn't seem surprised to see me, but with all the training we'd done together in the first week, I was pretty sure he could find my chakra signature in his sleep.
"Need some help dobe?"
"You wish emo. I was just taking care of this guy."
I stayed quiet, waiting for Naruto to let me know what was going on. He obliged after a moment, sounding exhausted and frustrated. "He's the guy we met in the woods the other day." I stiffened: A spy then. "He uses these ice mirrors, hops between them and hides in them. I can't attack him while he's in them, but he moves super quick between them so I even though I cant tell where he is, I've barely been able to hit him. Any hits I've gotten in have been more luck then anything. I throw where he has to leave from. But thats one attacks for the ten he throws at me. And he keeps using senbon, which are really hard to deflect. Thank kami for practice,"
I nodded, I could try my best to help. I just had to figure out where he was going. If Naruto attacked where he left and I attacked before he hid, we had a chance to knock him out of his mirror. "Where is he now?" Naruto gestured towards the mirror directly in front of him. I eyed the mirror. It looked no different then any of the others, but if Naruto said this one contained the real Haku and not a reflection, I believed him.
" I wish we had Kage for a plan…" I silently agreed with Naruto's comment, but didn't respond trying to think for what to do. If he used ice, I used fire jutsu. I just needed to connect with him. "He's coming." Naruto tensed beside me.
If it hadn't been for the warning, I would've been hit with a lot more senbon. As it was, I couldn't dodge them all ad neither could Naruto. As soon as we had a moments respite form the barrage of attacks, Naruto and I yanked them out, just like we had when Kakashi sensei had thrown them at us. It still hurt a ton.
"Give up. I fight for my precious person and while I don't want to hurt you, I will not lose." Naruto and I were facing a different mirror now, with me following Naruto's lead.
"I told you before! The people need this bridge! I wont let you hurt that old man!" I nodded along with Naruto.
Naruto didn't have time to verbally warn me this time, but I noticed his tensing. He launched some kunai and shuriken at the mirror as I jumped back, forming the Great Fireball hand signs and looked up, aiming for where I guessed the other ninja would have to pass by.
"I missed…" I murmured, not sure how I knew when he moved almost too quickly to see but positive nonetheless.
"SASUKE! Are you alright teme?" I glanced down. Shit that was a lot of senbon to take just to launch one jutsu. I winced, pulling them out, but didn't finished before again, we were being attacked. I took advantage of the attack, again moving to do the Katon technique. 'Another miss…'
"Kage Bushin no Jutsu! Sasuke! Do you have a plan?" I looked up form pulling out the senbon towards the two blondes eyeing me.
"Not really a plan? More just a feeling. " I was slightly sheepish. This was not how the academy taught you who to do things, but I felt like my eyes had been opened up today. Maybe it was because of the horrors I had seen (caused) earlier. Maybe this guy was slacking with two people in his trap. Maybe I was getting used to seeing combat. I wasn't entirely sure what the right answer—if not all of them—was correct but I felt like I was on the brink of discovery.
"Alright then. My clones will protect you teme. Just like practice with sensei! We got this, Datebayo!" I nodded in agreement, and pulled out the last few senbon, started the hand seals for the fireball jutsu again. I could feel the fatigue from using my chakra; there probably wasn't much left anyway, probably only enough for another 3 or 4 of a decent size, but I couldn't be sure. I had never had as accurate a read on my chakra stores as sensei and Kage seemed to. Regardless, Naruto and I needed to handle this ninja.
Again Naruto said nothing aloud, instead allowing me to react to his body language, expressive as always. 'There!' I thought, seeing movement, back and forth and something made me turn slightly aiming for open air, and even though I was the one who aimed, part of me couldn't understand what made me so sure of the empty air I had aimed at.
"Ugh!." The masked nin jumped back, having darted right into the flames and then back out, clutching his injured arm, before darting into another mirror.
Naruto made two more clones, his previous one having being popped without my noticing. I eyed the mirror we had seen him hop into, something inside me eager. I could do this. He was definitely tired, moving dramatically slower and even after only two passes, I was guessing his patterns.
"Done already? I guess all that garbage in the woods about a precious person was just talk?" I taunted, trying to get him out of the mirror and out into the open where I could attack him. Kage had told me over cards she taunted people because 'Angry people move quicker, make more mistakes.' I was counting on it.
It worked. The masked ninja hopped out again and there were more senbon and Naruto was hopping around me like a deranged monkey, but I ignored him, because yes he was slowing down and I could see it. And then I was launching another fireball jutsu at empty air, but it didn't stay empty for long and then the masked ninja was engulfed in flame before he fell to the ground, and hoped back.
Naruto gave a savage grin, launching himself at the man, who only a had a second to prepare himself before Naruto and his (greatly improved from the private lessons with myself and Kage) taijutsu were on him.
He must've been weakened because Naruto kicked him straight into a mirror and this time it cracked slightly, but didn't give. Naruto tried to use the make shift wall to pummel him, but after one too many of his well placed punches finally made the mirror gave and the masked ninja was flying backwards, shattered ice mirror all around. Zabuza and sensei burst apart, both of them eyeing the scene, Zabuza with shock and sensei with some surprise, but more then anything, smug assurance. I grinned back at him, turning towards Zabuza whose gaze flipped quickly from Haku to Naruto before landing on me and freezing.
"His own kekkai genkai, eh Kakashi? I thought all the Uchiha were dead." Sensei gave a casual glance at my direction, making eye contact then turning back to Zabuza and shrugging. I didn't have time to wonder what that was about.
"I told you. He's one of the best the leaf has to offer."
Naruto smacked into Haku again, who had to be suffering from a concussion or something at this point because he was no longer dodging well, instead almost seeming to stumble into Naruto's fists. I readied my kunai and my ninja wire, just like I had this morning, waiting for an opening I was sure Naruto could provide.
Naruto was taking his time, almost languidly beating the shit out of the other ninja. His stamina was unreal and something about finally having a chance to fight instead of having to dodge seemed to have given the blonde dobe a second wind. Still I wished he would hurry it up. I had been on edge for what felt like hours now, all the way back to my fight at the house. I just wanted it over. I felt like my energy was just pouring out of me this close to the end.
"Let's finish this Kakashi!" Yelled Zabuza, almost distracting me, but no: I focused, eyeing the fight, and again I felt it, I could see the pattern of Naruto's attacks as well (probably from practicing with him so much) and in-between his fists, there was the perfect spot to attack.
I threw my kunai at Naruto's shoulder, knowing that Naruto was going to bend over to kick Haku up in the air for one of his taijutsu combos. Sure enough, Naruto popped over, almost bent over sideways for the kick and my kunai his Haku right in the stomach. He immediately started bleeding, but Naruto ignored that and latched onto the string above him, just like we had practiced. While not yet expertly, Naruto quickly wrapped the tail of the ninja wire around ninja, trapping his arms to his side tightly. Kicking Haku behind his knees, he dropped to the ground on his side, trapped.
Kakashi also seemed to have stopped fighting Zabuza. Zabuza's attack must have failed, because they stood there sizing each other up, but Kakashi sensei clearly had the advantage, not having a whole in his stomach and all.
"Your disciple is down. Do you really want to continue this Zabuza? You're already halfway lost."
Zabuza looked like he was going to say something, but Naruto interrupted, pointing towards the mist a ways behind him and Haku.
"Sensei, theres more people coming!"
Kakashi tensed. Surprisingly so did Zabuza. "How many?" Asked sensei.
"A lot …I think. They don't feel very strong…maybe?" Naruto seemed doubtful which was odd, but i still I turned to face the new threat.
All of us stood frozen on the bridge, eyeing the mist.
"They're not yours then?" Kakashi queried. A sharp shake of the head was all sensei received in return. We returned to tense silence. Finally it was interrupted by a sharp, 'tap tap tap', of someone walking with a cane or a peg leg.
The cane hypothesis turned out to be right as a short ugly man stepped forward, surrounded by a bunch of thugs. I doubted any of them were ninjas, or of they were, no higher then academy dropouts. It made sense considering Naruto wasn't used to sensing weak opponents; the signatures probably threw him off.
"Is this what I pay you for Zabuza? You and your brat here? You have the nerve to break my arm and you can't even kill one old man?" Zabuza let out a slight growl and from where I stood I shivered, the hair on the back of my neck standing up. I have no idea how the man continued talking with Zabuza's glare fixed on him.I was shaking from just seeing it secondhand.
"We'll its alright. I didn't plan on paying you anyway. And now that everyone here is exhausted." He motioned with the hand not holding the cane. "My men here will take care of cleaning up for you. This is how you do business. You knock out all the competition and you don't pay for a waste of space like you bullshit ninja."
The thugs all cheered but the rest of stayed silent. I wondered if the men I had killed earlier had also been bullshit ninja, or expendable, just like one of these thugs. If they weren't ninja, they wouldn't last very long. Even if they were, with the ki Zabuza was giving off, I was still doubtful.
"Would I be correct in assuming that is Gato, the under ground ruler of this country?" Kage spoke up, surprising me. I had forgotten she was even on the bridge; her presence was so forgettable sometimes.
"Yes." Said Haku from his place on the ground when Zabuza didn't respond.
"Wellllllll…" and even Sensei turned from the missing nin he had been facing to eye the petite girl. Whenever she had that tone of voice, you could be sure she was up to something. "If he's not going to pay you, wouldn't your mission be over then? And our mission is only hampered by Gato's existance. So I don't think any leaf ninja on this bridge would have an issue with you getting some well deserved revenge. After all, if Gato is dead, our mission to protect Tazuna only becomes easier."
Everyone stilled, and even the thugs quieted down. "What are you saying brat? You think you can still fight me and win? After all the fighting you've done here?"
Naruto also spoke up, strangely hesitant but firm at the same time. "Kage we cant just let them kill him…It's not right."
My demented teammate shook her head and gave Gato a brilliant smile, looking as innocent as she always did before she said something incisive. I wasn't disappointed. "Oh don't worry sir. I'm not going to attack you! I just think the man who is being stiffed on his pay after getting a fucking hole blown through his stomach just might take issue with you." She was one step from fluttering her eye lashes at the criminal over lord. "And Naruto, this man is the reason Inari doesn't have a dad. This man is the reason every one of the bridgework's was attacked this morning. This piece of shit is the reason this country is falling apart. Death is a kindest thing we can offer him. Let's let Haku-san and Zabuza-san sort out their own business, hmm?" Kakashi sensei didn't disagree with her and I nudged Naruto. He jerked back then met my gaze. I nodded towards Haku motioning for Naruto to help him up.
"Kakashi, I think your brat makes an excellent point. I have no personal quarrel with you."
"What?! WHAT?!" Gato was freaking out, moving back, trying to meld in between the wall of thugs he had brought with him, but they too stepped back under Zabuza's savage glare and directed killing intent. Gato ended up right in front of the thugs, cowering before Zabuza. "You can't just get over it! You were fighting to kill each other!"
Kakashi sensei answered for Zabuza. "That's the way of us 'bullshit' ninja. We complete our missions without complaint. But that doesn't mean I'm going to hold a grudge." he turned to Zabuza. "Best of luck. Your old boss kind of seems like an asshole, but I'm sure you can work it out." he gave a slight eye crinkle while Kage snickered at the stupid joke that was barely a joke.
"I think we'll manage just fine." Haku moved from where Naruto had released him to stand unsteadily by Zabuza's side.
What followed was a minor bloodbath, but I didn't quite remember all of it. I was pretty sure I saw a demon appear and launch himself at the thugs. I also thought maybe there was snow, and the snow was red like blood. But I wasn't sure because after eyeing the rest of the bridge and seeing my team alive and safe, I finally let myself relax, falling into a dead faint from over use of chakra. It was worth it though. They weren't going to leave me like all my other precious people.