"Well, Sensei," I said shakily, slowly lowering my kunai. "You sure took your time."
"Sorry about that," he said cheerfully. "A black cat crossed my path, so I had to take the long way around." A laugh bubbled in my throat, strangled by the remaining adrenaline.
"Sensei, I swear I'm going to stab you one of these days," I said instead before I turned to Naruto. Wasn't there something about him getting injured at this point? Regardless, he did in fact have a rather deep looking cut. "Naruto. You're hurt."
I took out the small first aid kit from my pouch and began to unpack it. They had Kiri headbands. Kiri nin tend to use contact poisons. "What are you doing?" Naruto demanded when I pulled out a kunai.
"You've probably been poisoned," I explained, continuing my rough treatment. "I need to make sure that you get it out of your system, but if I let you do it you'll probably bleed out or something." I dripped a bit of general antidote onto the wound, since I had absolutely no idea what they had on their weapons. He winced as I pulled the bandages a little harder than necessary. "Naruto. Try not to freeze up next time. You were lucky that Kakashi-sensei was here." I stared him in the eye. "Freezing in the field will get you and your teammates killed. Remember that."
Brushing my knees off, I turned around to where Sensei had tied the two nin to a tree. Now that adrenaline wasn't pumping through me, I could actually think beyond 'survive' and 'protect Tazuna'.
"They're Kiri nin, likely nuke-nin," I surmised, pushing my bangs behind my ear as I watched them. They were still both unconscious. I clenched my fists to keep my shaking hands from being too noticeable. "I'd rate them a three out of five for intelligence, though taking out the jōnin first is common sense. Honestly, a puddle in the middle of the road when it hasn't rained for well over a week?" I blinked slowly and frowned. "There are five possible targets. We can safely outrule the boys, as Naruto is a nobody that's never left the village before, and Sasuke's clan name alone protects him from most thugs." The boys shifted uncomfortably near me. "I'm fairly safe to outrule as well, being the daughter of a clan head. Clan and village retaliation and all that jazz. That leaves Sensei and the client. However, if they were just after Sensei, they would have left after 'killing' him. Witnesses would have been best to spread that they killed him, so they would have left us alone. Not to mention that once Sensei was out of the picture, they went straight for our client. Which begs the question, Tazuna-san" - the old man swallowed nervously and clenched the neck of his bottle tighter, sweat running down his face - "why didn't you tell us that you have shinobi after us? You hardly could have not known."
"Good analysis, Inoko," Sensei said, resting his hand on my head. It was oddly comforting. "Well, Tazuna-san? We're waiting." He shifted his weight from side to side, clearly nervous before coming clean. Knowing what he was going to say helped me keep a neutral face as he told us of what Gato had done to the people of Wave.
"Missions with shinobi contact are B-rank or higher," I mused after he had finished. "You couldn't afford anything higher than a C-rank, so you lied."
"Well, protocol says that we go back to the village," Kakashi sighed. "Naruto probably needs to see a doctor for his hand anyway."
"What?! No, I'm fine, Inoko fixed me all up!" I blinked.
"Naruto, my dude, I'm not even on par with a civilian doctor. I can stitch and bandage wounds, and deal with about a half dozen poisons, but that's it. I mean, I could probably figure out how to set bones…" I rubbed my chin, thinking. I really needed to get better at medical stu - wait a minute. "That is besides the point, Naruto!"
"Whatever! But Sensei, I'm fine, and those people really need help! We can't just leave them! We accepted this mission! We can't quit halfway through!"
I sighed heavily in the silence that followed. "My parents are going to kill me," I muttered before saying in a louder voice, "Well, I'm game for it if you guys are. We beat these idiots just fine, so whatever we come up against next won't be a pro-" Wait a minute. I frowned deeply as Sensei gave in and Naruto cheered. Neither seemed to notice me cutting myself off mid word.
A memory popped into my head of a really big sword, Sensei trapped in a giant bubble, and a pale mask.
…. Shit.
"So you didn't actually pass out," Naruto said, clearly thinking hard.
"No. Believe it or not, I'm not a tender damsel in distress. Which brings me to my second point: If you see me collapse in the middle of a fight, get my body out of the freaking way!" I glared at them as we kept walking. Sensei had… taken care of the Demon Brothers while the rest of us went up ahead. I tried not to think about it and instead focused on reaming the boys out.
"This also means that one of you needs to look before you attack, Sasuke." He glared at me. "I know I explained my jutsu to you, didn't I?" I groaned, pinching the bridge of my nose. "Please don't tell me you both forgot." Silence greeted me. I very carefully took a deep breath. "... I swear I'm going to stab you both before this mission is over."
We took a small boat to Wave, hiding in the heavy fog. Tazuna explained the situation in more detail to kill time. And then proceeded to guilt us into continuing as his bodyguards by sighing over how his daughter and grandson would grieve and blame Konoha for his death. Asshole, I thought as I gave him a flat stare, annoyed.
"Be quiet!" the rower hissed. "We're almost there." We went under a low arch on a bridge, and the fog cleared up on the other side. Wave was beautiful, I realized. Trees poked out of the water; mangroves, maybe red ones? My marine biology course had been so long ago, and I had rushed through it.
The town around us was in disrepair, practically falling apart, and that was just what I could see from the boat. It was far worse than my mind palace. We disembarked from the boat. I wobbled a bit - slight sea legs, yay - but quickly regained my balance. I don't like this.
We left the small town and began our trip to Tazuna's house. It's going to happen soon. They're going to come soon and I won't be able to do anything.
We had been walking for about an hour before my blood ran cold. Two chakra signatures in the trees. Sensei tensed near me. Naruto had nearly killed a rabbit while I was phasing out. Not good not good not good we're going to die.
"Everyone get down!" Sensei shouted. I grabbed the front of Tazuna's shirt and yanked as I fell. I felt the whoosh of air as something large and heavy passed over us. A large blade embedded itself in a tree. I swallowed nervously. That's a big sword.
A man body flickered to the handle of the blade, and all I could think was, Wouldn't it be easier to balance on the blade?
He was shirtless, had his hitai-ate on the side of his head, was wearing the most awful leg and arm warmers I had ever seen - are you hot or are you cold, make up your mind - not to mention they clashed horribly with his pants. He was giving us a dark glare. Oh, and did I point out he was standing on a sword longer than I was tall? What the crap.
Ignoring the whole 'shouldn't be able to lift that much metal with both arms let alone one' issue, I slowly got to my feet. Dad usually left Bingo books around the house for us to read. Ino was never that interested in them, but I had read them multiple times, usually when I woke up from nightmares of the future. Momochi Zabuza. Momo… chi. Wasn't this just peachy?
A hysterical laugh bubbled in my throat. I was facing a man who had killed more people than I could count, and I was laughing at his slightly ridiculous family name.
Ino was right. I had issues.
Naruto tensed beside me. No. "Don't even think about it, Naruto," I growled. "He's an A-rank jōnin. He'd crush you in a heartbeat."
"Little girl's done her research," Zabuza said mockingly. I swallowed. My instinct was to make a snarky remark, but my throat was tight and dry. Missing nin. Highly dangerous. Kill on sight. That's what his Bingo book page had said. But the question was, could we?
I pulled my mind back to the present as Kakashi-sensei and Zabuza did the required pre-battle banter.
"Momochi Zabuza. What a surprise."
"Sharingan no Kakashi. I'd say I was here for you, but I'm really not."
"Shame. I have quite a few people out for my head."
"Maybe next time. Now, if you don't mind, I'll have you hand over the old man," Zabuza said.
"I'm afraid that's not an option," Sensei replied, his posture relaxed but his chakra tight and ready to spring. He slowly lifted his headband off his face. This is it, the apocalypse. I shook off old memories of song lyrics and focused. "Guys, get in Manji battle formation. Protect Tazuna and don't get involved."
My body moved with the ease of much practice, and I pulled out a kunai. Like a kunai would be much use against the oversized butter knife that was the Kubikiribōchō. I forced my breathing to be steady even as my heart slammed in my ears. It would be ok. We'd practiced this before. Sensei would protect us. We were going to be fine.
"Huh. I never expected to see the legendary Sharingan so early," Zabuza mused. "This is an honor."
"Everyone's been saying Sharingan," Naruto groused. "What is it?!"
"It's the doujutsu and kekkei genkai of the Uchiha clan," I explained quietly. "It can be used to copy jutsu. Sensei is known for being the only non-Uchiha with one, since the Uchiha guarded their eyes almost as fiercely as the Hyūga."
"It's not the only power of the Sharingan," Sasuke muttered grimly.
"Well said," Zabuza replied with amusement. I flinched. "You really have done your research." A heavy fog filled with chakra began to rise. "When I was in Kiri's Anbu, we had a Bingo book page on you. There was something else in the book about the man who has copied one thousand jutsu." And he hasn't taught us any of them. Rude. "Kakashi, the Copy Ninja." Copy that, copycat. "But let's end the chit chat here," he continued, crouching. "I need to kill that old man sooner rather than later. But it appears I need to kill you first, Kakashi."
He grabbed his sword and landed on the water. It was back in its sheath, mist crawling out of the water to smother us in chakra as he made a hand sign with one hand and the other pointed up.
"Hidden Mist Jutsu," Zabuza said. That can't be good. I was right; the chakra in the fog was already wreaking havoc with my sensing abilities.
"Sensei," I said tersely after he vanished.
"He'll probably come after me first," Sensei said, as if that was supposed to make me feel better. It didn't.
"I'm going to assume that he's silent but deadly, seeing how he said he was in Anbu," I guessed. I did not like this at all. It was tense and stressful and I could barely sense Sensei a few feet away from me.
"He is a master of the silent killing technique," Sensei absently agreed.
"The name seems self explanatory," I said, resisting the urge to roll my eyes. "Dead before you notice it."
"I haven't completely mastered my Sharingan, so stay sharp, guys." Oh, great.
"Like a kunai," I muttered. The mist grew thicker, and soon enough I couldn't see Sensei anymore.
"Eight spots," rasped out of the mist. "Larynx, lungs, spine, liver, jugular, subclavian veins, kidneys, and the heart." He listed them as casually as Mother would read a grocery list. "Now then. Which spot would be the best?" Killing intent began to leak through the air, thick and burning. I felt like I was choking. No. No. Not again! Not again oh god help me I'm so small why why why why help please I can't breathe- I struggled to pull air into my lungs.
"Sasuke." I blinked at the sudden sound. "Don't worry. I will protect you three with my life. I will not allow my comrades to be killed." He partially turned and gave us an eye smile. I could feel the positive intent in the air. It was an odd thing, practically the opposite of killing intent. As dumb as the name was, it was definitely useful.
I glanced at Sasuke, saw the kunai pointed towards himself. I grabbed at his hand. Between Sensei's words and the physical contact, something in his eyes relaxed. "It's fine," I whispered.
"I wonder about that," Zabuza casually said from behind me. No. I had felt the flicker of chakra too late. I wasn't afraid to die. I had done it before. But Tazuna and Naruto and Sasuke; I couldn't just- I couldn't- "It's over."