"Sensei?"

Ryuya looked up from her stack of notes, fiddling with her pen. The girl had been learning and revising her knowledge of Konoha's history in a corner of Ibiki's office. Ibiki remembered that when he was supposed to learn those facts, the war broke out and so he had learned the history on the battlefield and through speeches.

"Yes?"

"Will Chi be alright?" She started drawing circles on her paper.

Ibiki stopped his work and looked back at his student. "Why do you ask?"

Ryuya shrugged "I just feel... uneasy."

Ibiki narrowed his eyes. Shinji's head popped up from the entrance of the door "Yeah me too."

She had learned to enhance her senses and had some free time so she decided to try and see if she could hear the history facts Ryuya would mutter under her breath from the hallway. Until now she had heard a few words and guessed the rest of the sentence, but she doubted that 'The First Hokage was an avid gambler' was true. The man was a legend, surely he would spend his time playing Shogi or writing some super complicated theory instead of wasting his money.

"You look pretty tense too, sensei. And you have been looking around for no reason all day."

Ryuya looked surprised and now both were looking at him, demanding an answer of some sort. Ibiki hesitated, his own nerves had been bugging him for a while now. It was as if something was happening right behind his back. He could almost see it from the corner of his eye but when he turned, it was never there. He flexed his hand, the stamp he was holding got damaged in his tight hold. My chakra is surging for no reason. He was puzzled.

"I... I think she will be fine. She is a tough one. Besides, Kakashi is with her, she'll be as safe as she could be." He eventually replied.

"Ah yes, about that." Shinji walked in the room and Ibiki forgot his worries. Right now, his self-proclaimed successor formed the greatest problem. He already dreaded her next words.

"Did you make up to her?"

"Huh?"

She rolled her eyes and he could swear he heard Ryuya sigh.

"You made her mad, right?" Shinji put her hands on her waist, looking every bit like a scolding parent. "Did you apologize?"

Ibiki hoped that no one was near to see this. He, The Scariest Jonin of Konoha according to Shinobi Go!, was being corned by his two tiny students. He cleared his throat.

"Yes. I went to visit her before she left."

Shinji arched an eyebrow "Did you actually say 'Sorry'?"

"No-" Shinji took a deep breath, "I gave her my blood as a token of apology!" He hurried.

Both girls looked at him. "You did?"

"Yes." Crisis averted.

Ryuya seemed happy and smiled at him. Shinji was about to say something when she froze and gasped. She stood straight and spread her arms in revelation.

"What if that is the reason?!"

Ibiki managed to catch his paper before the burst of chakra blew it off the table. Ryuya jumped in shock and her notes fell to the ground in a heap. They heard a couple of screams from down the hallway, crying about their eyes.

"W-what was that?" Shinji looked at her hands as if she had never seen them before. I never had that much chakra before.

"Sensei?" He looked at the blue-haired girl in the corner. Her hands were shaking. He squinted at her wrist, the angry red/brown scars seemed smaller and lighter.

Ibiki looked at the stamp that was still in his now clenched fist. He opened his fist and the wooden stamp fell on his table. He stared at it.

It was broken in half.

Shinji gulped "What if the blood connects us to Chi?"

Ibiki stood up, sending his chair clashing against the wall. He turned and looked. I involuntarily used chakra again. He looked at his two students. Both were still rooted on their spot, looking confused and scared. He grabbed his coat and put it on while marching to the door.

"We're going to the Hokage."

Land of Waves, the previous night~

It was cold, Tazuna convinced himself. That is why he was shivering. Not because of the impending doom, but because it was cold. In the middle of summer. While he was sweating. In his T-shirt.

Yep. Just the cold.

He glanced at his shinobi companions. The four kids were perched on a side each, eyes drooping but still holding up the pretense of being alert. It was almost endearing how they tried to act like they were actually capable of seeing something in the thick mist. Even Yellow-eyes was squinting. Color-changing eyes or not, they were not very useful. He dared to peek at the Jonin. His shock of gray hair matched the view and his single eye was focused on the orange book. How he could even read it in the dark (or how he got promoted to Jonin) was a mystery.

Tazuna stared down in the water. His reflection was dark and hardly clear but it managed to reflect the self-loathing and fear perfectly. This was his fault. He brought it upon himself and now he was going to get himself and these kids killed. His grandson would be ashamed.

"Almost there."

The croaky voice made all of them look up. The local ferryman initially tried to brush them off by evoking their pity, but somewhere along the line of his description of his bad back and how his life insurance wasn't enough for his family to live from, he caught the eyes of the dark haired girl. She looked back, unblinking with those disturbingly yellow eyes. They were all seated on a ramshackle boat with the instructions to 'stay still and don't move unless you want to end as seafood' in five minutes. No one appreciated the wordplay.

He peered in the mist. His eyes weren't as good as they used to be but he did managed to spot a dark shape in the distance. The shape grew. A triumphant smile formed on his lips.

"Sensei, we arrived."

His smile died on his face. The pink haired brat yawned and poked her teacher. He looked around to see all four kids staring at the same spot as if they had seen it a long time ago. They probably had. He thought bitterly.

They got off the boat, payed and watched as the ferryman sped away in the darkness. So much for a bad back. Sakura shook her head and followed her team and client in the dark forest. She was too tired to be afraid of the haunting trees and shrieking animals. She just wanted a nice, warm bed and the promise of a good morning shower. She stretched, oblivious to the watching eyes up in the trees.

Naruto nudged her and offered a cracker. She smiled and accepted, much to the delight of the blond. Her animosity towards him was pretty much gone and replaced with the beginnings of a quirky friendship. Naruto still had an obvious crush on her and wanted nothing more than a date with her, but he had toned his terrible flirting down.

It was nice.

Sakura looked over at their third teammate and sighed. Once she thought that he was everything a guy should be. Now he was still all that, but he lacked the heart. How she managed to miss that was a great mystery to her. Nevertheless, she hoped that one day he would look at her with something else than those onyx eyes blinded by hate. Although, I have already seen that other look. That innocent, hurt child. Will he ever open up to us? The falling out today had made him even more silent than before.

Kakashi was feeling restless, all his instincts screamed at him to turn around and leave. He could hear the happy chatters from his students at the back. They hadn't sensed his nervousness and Kakashi was glad about that. Not only would it mean that he was loosing his touch, but it would make them jumpy and prone to causing accidents.

Tazuna was dragging his feet, trying to keep up with the group and receiving an occasional push from Chi, who was still guarding the rear. Her right sleeve was empty, her hand resting on something inside her haori. Her eyes gleamed a particular disturbing color of orange, casually scanning the surroundings and occasionally adding some words to the conversation between Sakura and Naruto. Kakashi wondered how many memories this environment brought back to her. He certainly had his own share of them.

Sasuke was lost in his own (dark) thoughts. Every time Naruto asked him a question, he would ignore him or sneer, making the blond puff his cheeks and turn away. He shook his head, not feeling up to chastising the boy. He had tried many times and punished him as well but nothing seemed to help. Sasuke was lost in his own hatred and willing to push away everything for the sake of killing his brother. Kakashi focused back on the road and the eyes staring at him.

Owls sat unmoving on a branch and turned their heads as they walked past. A fox scurried away, carrying a dead and bleeding rabbit in between his jaws. A woodpecker choose the tree closest to them to start digging a hole.

There was something else. Something lingered just in front of them, hiding carefully and not making a single sound.

It was coming for them. It was going to attack any minute now. Kakashi wanted to scream but as the only person in this group with a half decent skill set, he couldn't afford to. He still wanted to.

They walked most of the night until they reached a small village. Tazuna finally showed some backbone and led them to his shabby house. He knocked once, then again and Kakashi felt obliged to inform him of the time and that most people were asleep now. Still, he went for the third time but his fist hardly touched the wood when the door swung open (to the outside) and docked him straight on his fat nose. Naruto didn't bother to hide his laughter even as he sleepily clung to a too-exhausted-to-care Sasuke. Kakashi was pleasantly surprised.

Even more so when they were led to the second floor and he got a private room while the kids had to squeeze into one.

He was less pleased when a giant sword cut through the thin walls just five minutes after he had finally closed his eyes. Kakashi jumped back and send a kunai in the darkness. He shot in his gear and jumped outside. The giant sword had vanished but the cut was as much evidence as any. And now there was a Kakashi shaped hole in it as well.

Meh, the Hokage will pay for it. Kami knows we did enough D-ranks to afford even the damage to my training ground.

He pushed his headband up and the world became much clearer. He saw the torrent of water coming at him before it was even created and quickly launched his own, using the water from the fog and the jug in his room. The two jutsu's clashed and fell to the ground.

"At last we meet, copy-cat Kakashi." A gravelly voice called out. A body emerged, tall, broad and dressed like a cow-zombie hybrid.

"Zabuza." I just want to sleep.

The man stepped closer and squinted "So that is the famous Sharingan eye, huh? Konoha's prized possession."

He swung his overgrown abomination of a sword off his shoulder and pointed at the tired Jonin. "I wonder if I could implant it in myself, see what it can do."

You don't know? "You don't know?"

"Look where I live."

"I see."

Zabuza grinned and dissolved into a puddle of water even though Kakashi already knew he would. He also knew that he was going to reappear behind him but that didn't stop him from feeling jumpy when the demon spoke close to his ear.

"Where did you hide your kids?"

That son of a "They are somewhere you can't reach." pineapple in ramen! Kakashi leaned back far enough for the other man to recoil.

"Are you going for a back hug?" He whispered, because if anyone knew how to be a total pain in the rear, it was Kakashi.

Zabuza growled and the blade slid straight through him, except it wasn't really him but a water clone. Zabuza's face was priceless and Kakashi snickered in a shadow.

He would have had trouble with the man on bright daylight and at night he also had to make sure no one woke up. It didn't really matter if the Genin woke up but one, they would get in the way and two, Sasuke would see his Sharingan. So he was stuck fighting silently. To use the words of any Nara: It was a drag.

They fought for at least two hours. High-level jutsu's destroyed the ground, made them grit their teeth. Kakashi grunted as he caught the weight of the Kubikiribōchō with his kunai. The massive blade almost cut straight through it. He was growing tired. The close-calls were growing more frequent, his average chakra reserves weren't enough to fight after such a long day.

There was a faint whistle in the background. Both Kakashi and Zabuza stopped for a moment. Then Zabuza started to grin. Kakashi was tense. More signatures had arrived. The whistle grew louder and a white object blurred into view. A small cloud of glittering needles came straight at him, but he didn't have to dodge. Chi flickered in front of him, her weapon spinning like a shield in front of her. The senbon fell to the ground without doing any harm.

"Sensei!"

Naruto's shout was accompanied with the orange-clad boy. He ran up to them and send five kunai flying at the same time Zabuza saw him. Kakashi's warning shout froze in his throat as a water-clone appeared and separated the boy's head right from his neck. Naruto looked Kakashi straight in the eye for one horrible second, and poofed away.

Later on Kakashi would never be able to tell them what he felt at that moment. He would never admit that he lost control like that and why he did. All his students could tell was that he suddenly turned on his heels, grabbed the bandaged man with the giant sword and disappeared in the dark woods.

The four Genin were left on their own against the masked figure. Sasuke was half in shock from seeing the red Sharingan spinning in his teacher's eye, but he had to put the questions on hold because the the figure started to make sign. The water left behind from the fight rose and chased them until they were standing next back to back with each other. Large mirrors formed all around them. Sakura bit back her fear and fired a kunai at one, intending to shatter it. Instead it fell down without doing any damage.

Chi was cursing her luck, her chakra was more than enough but she had been unable to drink some blood because she was rooming with the other Genin. She was unable to use most of her clan's jutsu's. Next to her, Naruto had no such problem and was itching to do something. The masked figure appeared in one of the mirrors.

"Do not fight. I do not want to kill you." The voice was soft and almost friendly.

Naruto scoffed. "As if you could!"

As a response, he got five senbon to the chest. The clone disappeared again. Chi groaned and replaced it.

"Idiot." Sasuke cursed the boy.

Naruto. Stay in the shadows, find a weak spot. Chi had to admit her mental communication had seen better days but she was low on blood. The response was just as croaky.

Got it. What about sensei?

"Guys," she hissed out loud, "what about Kakashi sensei?"

"I'm sure he is fine." Sakura wished she felt as sure as her words. She wished she had stayed behind to guard the house and family. When they had proposed the idea she had felt indignant and now she was stuck in a life threatening situation. She hadn't trained enough for this!

"Get the dobe to send a clone after him. Just to be sure." Sasuke stepped forward but had to retreat immediately. A needle buried itself in the ground.

Naruto, make at least twenty clones, transform them into us and send one team after sensei.

S-sure. Ey, take care alright? I'm here to fight when you need me.

Got it. Thanks pal.

Chi turned the communication off. She was thirsty. The pulses of her teammates were drums to her. She focused, heard another one. On impulse, she made the wave even larger. She sensed the strong beat of Naruto, hiding in the bushes. Even further she felt two different beats moving quickly around each other. It was feint and she couldn't tell which one belonged to who. There was a slight disturbance as Naruto made his clones and the forest filled with more drums.

She turned her attention back to the glass mirrors. She had enough to pull off some jutsu, it would drain her reserves but it was useful. The opponent was using the mirrors to move around, but that didn't mean he had no pulse. Her own pulse was slowing down like she had trained to do. Her eyes flared, a feint ring appearing. It was the infamous eye that had send her clan in many arguments with the Hyuuga in the past. It allowed the user to see the veins and heart of the opponent. Chi hadn't trained enough and had no affinity to it but she could at least see the feint outlines.

She scanned the surroundings until she spotted a light spot. Not missing a beat, she send a kunai at the mirror above them. The light moved away in a blink. Chi cursed and searched again. Sasuke watched her from the corner of his eye. The masked figure reappeared in another mirror.

How is she doing that? He gritted his teeth. Chi paid him no attention and continued to search. Her focus was growing less and less. She managed another shot and then lowered her head. Her head throbbed and she massaged her eyes. Next to her, Sakura's eyes widened.

"Sasuke-kun!" She reached for him as the boy himself noticed the danger.

No less than ten senbon flew towards him. His breath hitched, memories flashed by. Is this how I die?

Itachi stood in front of him, hand outstretched. His fingers reached for his eyes. Sasuke wanted to scream but he was frozen. Chakra raced through his body. The world distorted and faded before turning crystal-clear. His hands moved on his own and his fireball jutsu burned the needles mid-flight.

It was quiet for a moment. Sakura's hand was millimeters away from his shoulder. Her face was pale. Sasuke looked at his reflection with his red eyes. His lips curled in a smile that was more manic than he would admit. Finally! I have awoken the Sharingan!

Chi felt the next attack before she saw it and pushed her teammates out of the way. Her veins pulsed but she had to preserve her blood. She got rid of the Naruto-clone.

"Head in the game, Uchiha!" She growled at the dazed Sasuke. He snapped up and scowled before stepping forward.

"You can leave, I can take i-"

Both Sakura and Chi hit him over the head. Sakura immediately retracted her hand in shock but Chi bared her teeth.

"You are not even half as strong as him! The Sharingan isn't worth a dime if you can't use it." She turned to the foe that was waiting patiently. Sasuke fumed, pulling out three kunai.

"Show us your face." She demanded.

"I can not. I am to remain a shadow." The voice was as friendly as before.

Sasuke didn't care for conversation. He jumped forward and send three kunai in quick succession, ignoring the angry shouts from his teammate. He was going to show them, show everyone, just how much the Sharingan was worth.

In the forest

Kakashi was sure that he had hit the other man. Zabuza was at a disadvantage here, without a big enough source of water nearby. The copy-cat kept steering them away from where he knew was one. The fact that Zabuza went along could best be blamed on Kakashi's sudden berserker rage.

He had long since calmed down for the sake of his- lack of- chakra reserves, but every sighting of Zabuza made his heart beat faster in anger. Kakashi jumped on a branch and crouched. His eyes narrowed as he searched for a flak of white. He needed to end this fight soon and get back to the kids he left behind.

Unbeknown to him, one of those kids was just five trees to his left. Naruto had gathered a group of his clones around him and send a copy of their team out to create some distraction. He giggled despite his nerves, Zabuza was going to flip when he thought that his teammate was defeated!

The fake-team set out and appeared in Kakashi's view. The Jonin nearly tumbled out of the tree. Did they defeat that masked man?! Kakashi's Sharingan spun and revealed the culprit concealed behind a large branch. Naruto... Good plan but it won't work for long.

No sooner had the thought crossed his mind when he felt the ground rumble in a shock wave. Leaves fell down around him. He took the risk and made his way to the epicenter. He jumped and ran until the scent of burning wood reached his nose. The explosion had torn several large oaks oaks from their roots and left a proper crater in the middle. There was no sign of Zabuza or Naruto. At least, not anymore.

He landed on the edge of the hole and inspected one of the fallen trees.. There was a sliver of white fabric hanging from the jagged end. A smile fought its way up Kakashi's lips. Naruto must have gotten the man almost point blanc.

A rustling near the bushes made him duck for cover. He crouched behind the massive trunk, the back of his mind wondering what the Hell Naruto had used to do this type of damage.

"Kakashi!" The grating voice of his opponent rang out. "I send your brat away, so come out!"

The seriously over-sized weapon pointed at his general direction. Guess I have to face him head on. Kakashi sighed and rose to his feet, feeling more exhausted than his expression let on. The sight of Zabuza's torn clothes was worth the effort.

"Had an accident?" Kakashi tilted his head, taking pleasure in the way the demon's veins popped out.

"You'll pay for this."

"Sure."

"I'll kill you."

"Whatever you say."

Zabuza charged forwards and struck. Kakashi retreated, jumping backwards on branches to avoid getting sliced. The trees fell down as the heavy blade cut through them. Just a little more. Kakashi flickered away right before the other man reached him.

He reappeared behind him and tried to get a kunai between his ribs, but Zabuza already turned and swung Kubikiribōchō in a broad circle around him. Kakashi ducked and used lack of defense to stab a kunai in the man's thigh. Zabuza howled in pain and pushed his sword straight through the back of Kakashi.

The clone popped and the real Kakashi winced. He was tired and needed some good night's rest. Not that there was much night left. He could see the sky growing lighter. Zabuza must have been tired as well because he stood bent over for a while, clutching the bleeding wound. The kunai laid on the ground, the end dyed with clotted blood. Seems like the poison worked.

Kakashi had won.

Back at the kids~

Sakura gritted her teeth and sent another kunai at the reflection in the mirror. Their attacks had been futile and only resulted in them getting stabbed. Naruto had caused some distraction from the outside by throwing paint and bombs around them, but the mirrors remained unscathed.

Sasuke was furious. He had the prized Sharingan and it was useless! His attacks were faster than his teammates but didn't hit the opponent. He needed to fight, he needed the practice. He wiped the sweat off his chin, he was at least going last longer than Chi. She was still going just as strong as the beginning.

"Don't you know any jutsu?" He hissed at her when she sent another kunai.

Chi jumped to avoid a swarm of senbon. "None of them are effective." Give me your blood and I'll show you.

"Tch," Sasuke smirked "so much for the famed Ketsueki clan."

"Says who? I didn't see you land any attacks, or use anything other than that useless fireball."

Sasuke wanted to reply but was cut off by a gasp from the masked individual, who was currently on his right. Sakura took the time to catch her breath and asked

"What's wrong?"

The figure seemed distraught. "My master... I need to go to him."

"Not before we finish this fight!" Sasuke growled.

"This fight is already over." The white mask looked straight at him.

One second everything was paused and then senbon flew at them from all angles. They each hit a sensitive spot. The Genin stood frozen for a second. Naruto in bushes held his breath. Sakura was the first to collapse, her eyes were closed before she even hit the ground. Sasuke was next, falling to his side like a boneless doll. Chi grunted, moved one leg and fell to her knees. Her dark eyes found the blue ones before her head dropped. She slumped and remained still on her knees.

The mirrors fell down and the masked figure sped away, leaving Naruto. The blond staggered to his friends, shaking them. His hands patted their cheeks, he shouted their names but there was no reaction. He lifted Chi's chin and found the dark red eyes looking at him glassily. Are they turning black?

Heat exploded in his veins. The blue turned red, the whisker marks grew ragged and deeper. The fox had gained the upper hand.

Naruto growled and roared. His bones stretched and his nails grew. He wanted blood. The rage and pain from his life boiled in his stomach and filled his vision with red. He was going to kill the masked figure and Zabuza. His blood raged and thundered in his head. A hot, scorching fog spread over the place. The villagers dreamed of murder and demons that night.

While Naruto raged, something happened to Chi as well. The blood that connected them clawed at the insides of the girl. Her eyes flashed and rapidly turned from red to yellow. In her mind she saw the murder of her clan. She knew why, how and what role she had played that day and night.

It was great.

She fell to her hands, remaining like that for a while before pain entered her mind. A long moan escaped her as she writhed over the ground. Pain ran through her body, replacing every sane thought. She wanted to drink like that time. She could smell the blood from the young bodies next to her.

So much to drink..

Her hand reached for one body. She licked her lips, feeling her teeth sharpen. There was more blood nearby. She grinned, saliva coating her lips. Something lifted her up from the ground. Chi hung in the air, dazed and confused. Drink?

"Sleep, kid. I got you." A male voice spoke, memories flashed and she obeyed.

Kakashi sighed in relief. When he had arrived back here, it was to the scene of his nightmares. Naruto was clawing at the ground like a wild beast, looking more like a fox than a human. Ibiki's student was crawling around emitting a foul chakra that gave the fox's intent a sour undertone. His own two students were unconscious (or dead) on the ground.

He raced to the blond and forced him to look in the Sharingan. He could feel the pull of the demon fox but refused to give in. It took nearly all his remaining energy to cast a Genjutsu on the two. Naruto became limp and the strong aura receded. He covered his Sharingan again, laying the boy gently on the ground.

Kakashi turned around and saw Chi reached for Sasuke's wrist.His heart skipped a beat.

He picked her up from the ground, trying to get eye contact with the yellow eyes. The color was paler than he remembered, the pupils small and unseeing. He stood there for a second, not knowing how to deal with this. In the end he called out a simple command and the girl fell asleep. He put her down and went to tend to his other students.

Both were still alive though pretty banged up. He pulled the needles out of them and gathered both in his arms. He went to get the other two and made his way back to the house with more effort than he liked. Luckily, Tazuna's daughter was awake and hiding in the kitchen with a knife. Upon seeing their battered state, she quickly went to help him with the students. They worked in silence as they put all four in their futons. Kakashi thanked the girl as she left.

He sighed and stretched himself on the ground between the window and the kids. When they entered the room with the sleeping forms, it had been a mess. Clothes laying around haphazardly, a toothbrush on the window sill, a potted plant fallen over and soil spilled on Sasuke's blanket. It was still there by the way.

He yawned and curled up, feeling his muscles ache and his eye throb. The sun was already rising above the horizon but he was sure that he would sleep for days. Perhaps his dreams would help him formulate a plan to deal with these new developments.

If only I was that lucky.