When thunder strikes

They now knew what they had as adversaries, not only did they have their protection mission but they also had a high level missing nin to contest with. This would normally be well out of the remit for a first time genin team to handle, they however had something that others did not have. They had two jonin on their team. This did not stop their jonin from sending a message for reinforcements back to the village however, much to the chagrin of a certain uchiha.

Kushina was not happy with the situation as it was something that should have been spotted and resolved much sooner than this. These issues take much longer to fester before getting to this point, so here they were walking along the road towards their destination within the wave country much more alert than they were. Or atleast most of them were as two of the team weren't. Sasuke seemed to be very pleased with himself and was lost within his own little world by the looks of it. The other girl of the team, Sakura, though confused Kushina however as no matter what she tried the girl always seemed to revert back into a form of self denial that all she needed to do was rely on the uchiha and the world would be perfect.

It disgusted her to be frank. To think that the academy was allowing children like this to pass. They were more likely to die or worse on their missions due to this mindset, she would definitely be having words with minato about this. They could not afford to let this stand.

Xxxxx

The land of waves was an archipelago, a small series of islets upon which trade passed through due to its advantageous positioning. This naturally made the small nation rather well off for its size however it also made the nation a rather tempting target. Normally a nation in this situation would have a military to help with the defence in case of attacks. Wave however was too small to have supported their own shinobi or samurai forces, all that they had was a small militia to protect from small bandit or pirate attacks.

So it was that team seven came to the border, a substantial body of water between the archipelago and the mainland that for the longest of times the only way in which one could cross was with small boats or a ferry. Now however, off into the distance if one used chakra to enhance their vision they could see the outline of a large structure rising up out of the water. This was the reason for their journey to see the completion of that bridge and ensure the safety of the old man.

Boarding a small boat that had been waiting for them they set off into the dusky light, making as little noise as possible. It did not help ease the tension that the team was feeling however as the closer to the islands that they got the thicker the layer of mist that had been settling in over the morning was becoming. Normally kushina would have been thankful for the natural cover as she could see that her children were, she however remembered something that they had not. Their opponent was from the village hidden in the mist.

This meant that they were used to fighting in and around water as well as within conditions such as these just as those from konoha were adept to fighting in forested areas. It was all part of the training and their terrain advantages. Being a veteran of one of the shinobi wars all of her instincts were screaming at her that they were heading into an ambush, she did not know when or how she just knew that they were. One thing that she has learned over the years is to trust her instincts as they tend to lead you well.

Moving along a path through the brush on the islands she felt like she was being watched, she knew she was. By the way, Kakashi's hand was twitching and he could sense it as well. Whoever they were concealing their presence well, their intent though was another matter. She was not surprised that the genin could feel the tension, well some of them could, thus it was that her daughter launched a blade into the bushes.

Kushina herself laid her hand on the hilt of her blade, her instincts were going crazy, as she watched Kakashi walk over and retrieve a white rabbit. Now that should not happen. It was not a natural occurrence.

In the two seconds it took for the thought to process to happen a sound reached their ears, a strange whistling/whirring noise. Something was cutting through the air with a large velocity. It was travelling towards the squad so acting quickly Kushina threw herself at her children dragging them to the ground whilst shouting at them to hit the deck.

Getting back onto her feet and gathering her wits as she drew her blade. Taking in her surroundings she immediately noticed that the squad and the client were all still unharmed. After taking stock she registered and now turned her full attention to the immediate threat, not that she wasn't already paying attention to them, she didn't survive this long as a shinobi without being able to multitask in high risk situations.

The enemy was a tall well built man in camo with bandages covering the bottom of his face. His muscles honed from years of using what can only be called a zanbato, this was one of the most famous faces in the bingo book even though he was not the strongest. Zabuza momochi, one of the seven swordsmen of the mist. This was the sort of opponent that all jounin sensei dread that their teams might run into on their first missions as he was not one to care if a shinobi was a genin or a kage, if he had a job he would do it no matter who was in the way.

It just so happened that this time Team 7 was now in his way.

Xxxxx

Mei had arrived at her destination, her little cabin that she had set up as a way station in the wave as a rest stop. She already knew that her time in uzushio was coming to an end and she had been staying in this small cabin more and more. It was not uncommon for her to visit the town on her way through. This time however she knew that with her bingo book entry she would not be able to stay here much longer.

She would be resting for a short period then she would prepare, the time for her to leave was coming, Her instincts were warning her that something big would be happening soon.

Xxxxx

The mist was encompassing them all. Their vision had been reduced down to almost only barely a couple of feet in front of them. There was a pressure bearing down on them. Thankfully for the twins they had been taught how to deal with such things by their parents early, both knowing that they would have to deal with such things.

A voice echoed out from what seemed from around them. Looking at each other the two namikaze siblings quickly formed up around their client, weapons at the ready, knowing that their mother and kakashi would be fighting the rogue nin they would be expected to protect their client.

Suddenly the mist was blown away by a wind technique, only to reveal their opponent standing above them with his blade poised to strike. Reacting quickly both twins reacted instinctively and struc with their kunai, only to see that it was only a water clone. Hearing a chickle coming from the lake, they looked and saw the rogue standing on the water looking smug with his blade on his back.

It was now that the three jounin gathered. Combat began in a flurry of hand signs with water jutsu clashing as kakashi and zabuza clashed. Kakashi, using his sharingan to predict and counter jutsu after jutsu. Water dragons, bullets and many different jutsu were thrown only to be countered. This however almost cost the rogue his life, as his focus was almost solely on kakashi so he only barely managed to dodge a fatal strike from kushina.

To everyone's surprise however the battle was cut short as a hunter nin ended it. Striking from a blind spot the hunter struck with no warning and left just as quickly. Leaving the squad no time to argue. All that they could do was continue on with their current task and proceed on to their clients home, thus completing the bridge.