Chapter 3: Making waves

Izuna

Izuna was feeling… bored, the team had done nothing but train and D-rank missions. While she enjoyed training she hated D-ranks. Yet here she was listening to the Hokage list off more D-ranks and dreading the task to come. She could tell Naruto and Sakura felt much the same but didn't hide it well.

"Lord Hokage, i believe my team is more than capable of taking on a C-rank mission." Kakashi spoke with his usual bored tone, this surprised Izuna she wasn't expecting him of all people to ask for a harder mission. She was glad though and the looks on Naruto and Sakuras face told her they were too.

"Well i don't doubt that, there is one here that might interest you." The old man responded after taking a long drag on his pipe.

"Finally! Something interesting." Naruto yelled out, this made Izuna smirk. He didn't hide his emotions but he also didn't go out of his way to express them either, she found it rather charming in a childish sort of way.

Then the client walked in and Naruto went back to looking annoyed, the man was drunk off his ass and still drinking. Smelling of piss and sweat. "Your kidding right? Kids? How the hell are they supposed to keep me safe?" he spoke with a heavy slur, his breath was worse than Izuna imagined.

"This is Tazuna, you are to escort him to the land of waves and protect him while he builds a bridge." the hokage said in answer to Kakashi's silent question.

"No way, i want actual protection there's no way these kids are ninja." Tazuna spoke again, Izuna was finding his voice to be very annoying.

"Tazuna i suggest you show us a little more respect, after all whether you survive the trip… depends on us." Tazuna looked at the girl who spoke, her eyes were different and intimidating. Large veins and the side of her head making her seem even more terrifying.

"Did… did you just threaten me?" he asked voice trembling just a little.

"I don't make threats." she replied simply her eyes returning to normal, Tazuna opened his mouth then closed it a few times but said nothing his brain refused to supply words to speak.

"I apologise for my students' implications, but you are in good hands these three arnt exactly pushovers and im a jonin so you don't need to worry."

Naruto

Naruto was once again pissed off at Kakashi and Izuna, he and Sakura had been waiting at the gate for over an hour now.

"Where the hell are they." he growled while tapping his foot over and over in irritation.

"Calm down Naruto, getting angry won't make them any faster." Sakura stated in her own annoyed tone.

"You know i've been here for about twenty minutes." Naruto heard Izuna speak and looked up, Sakura was at a loss for words and Naruto was smirking. She was sitting on the wall above them using chakra to stick to the wall, her legs were crossed and her eyes were closed, she looked very relaxed.

"Izuna? How are you doing that?" Sakura asked she rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn't seeing things.

"Chakra control." Izuna responded simply Naruto looked back towards the village and saw Kakashi walking slowly towards them.

Kakashi

They had been walking rather slowly for hours now, and Kakashi was keeping his senses open for any possible threat. He noticed Izuna and Naruto doing much the same and was silently praising them for it, he had noticed how good these two were from the start and he still had trouble believing it. Especially Naruto, he had no trainers growing up except from the academy, yet he was stronger and more skilled than everyone except Izuna.

As he was thinking this he and his team walked past a puddle on the side of the trail, he knew what was to come and decided to test the team and gather some intelligence at the same time. Two ninja came charging at Kakashi from behind and cut him to pieces with their chains.

Kakashi watched from the trees as Sakura got between the ninja and the client with a kunai in hand, he was glad she didn't hesitate. He didn't expect Naruto and Izuna to stand there with their arms crossed, staring at the threat that killed their sensei. The two ninja charged at the closest body, that being Izuna and she didn't even flinch at the incoming danger.

When they got within arms reach she launched forward with a thundering punch to the abdomen, the one she struck cofed blood and went sailing backwards. His body slammed into a tree not far from Kakashi and didn't move further, the other ninja was dragged along for the ride and looked very upset. Naruto appeared to his left and slugged him across the face with a left hook, he went sailing into another tree dragging the other unconscious ninja with him.

Kakashi decided to step out after this. "Not bad, good job everyone." he said with that lone eye looking between them with pride.

"Please they werent exactly a threat." Izuna stated, Kakashi didn't like this attitude, arrogance can get even the best ninja killed.

"Confidence is one thing, but don't let it go to your head. Even the best can fall from the wrong attitude." Izuna nodded her head as if she had heard a similar speech a million times. He found himself once again thinking about her and Naruto, they handle themselves like they have seen it all. They seem to know what to do at all times and are years ahead of the others in their age group. Naruto had tied up the two enemy ninja while he was lost in thought, they were once again awake and sending insults at everyone around them.

Izuna knelt down to their eye level and activated her sharakugon. "Why did you attack us?" she asked while looking into their eyes casting a genjutsu. The two told them that they were after the bridge builder and that they worked for a man named Gato, after some words with Tazuna the team decided to continue on mission.

Izuna

Izuna was actually enjoying this mission, the two mist brothers who attacked them werent really a threat but just getting into a battle situation like that was… nostalgic. Her team had continued on mission and hadn't run into any other threats since. She wondered if any other ninja would attack them, Kakashi seemed to think so and that they would be a jonin but she wasn't so sure.

There wasn't much talking once the group started moving again and even less as time went on but this didn't bother anyone though. After a long while of traveling she could sense it, someone was watching them, she activated her dojutsu for a few seconds and scanned the area looking for the silent stalker. She found him hiding in the trees, his chakra looked weak and he had a large blade strapped to his back. She took a moment to fully see this man then turned her eyes back to normal.

She could see that Naruto or most likely Kurama had sensed this man also, Sakura didn't seem to notice though that wasn't surprising in the least. She couldn't tell if Kakashi was aware of the stalker but figured he was. Then she could hear it, the sound of a blade slicing through the air, headed right for them.

"Get down." Kakashi yelled as he tackled Sakura and Tazuna to the ground, Naruto and Izuna just crouched down looking casual as always. The blade wedged itself into a tree and the man who threw it landed on it. Izuna thought as far as entrenceses went this was a good one.

"Well would you look at that, that's a nice blade. I think i'll take it." Naruto said while looking at the newcomer with excitement.

"Ha, go ahead and try." the newcomer stated in a cold tone.

"Stand back everyone, ill take care of him." Kakashi said while lifting his headband, uncovering his eye.

Izuna watched the fight and thought it was very slow and dull, Kakashi in her time was a total powerhouse. But here he was slow and weak, he wasn't a pushover thanks to his sharingan but he wasn't anywhere near the level she knew and respected. She watched as the two went back and forth and as he was caught in a water prison she sighed heavily and walked towards Zabuza.

"Izuna take the others and run, this guy is a jonin." Kakashi said in a slightly panicked voice. Izuna just giggled and kept walking forward. Zabuza just started laughing his ass off and created a water clone to test her metal. She walked right up to it arms crossed looking like she was having the time of her life. The clone swung it's blade as hard as it could in a downward stroke, Izuna raised her hand and caught the blade with ease, she knew a water clone only had ten percent of the original strength and that was obismil at best. She punched the clone lighty in the chest and it exploded into a shower of water.

Then she made the hand signs for the fireball jutsu and took a breath, she let a small ball of fire fly towards the demon of the mist. He cut the ball in half with one swing and just as he was about to laugh he saw Izuna right in front of him, he hadn't even seen her move. She grabbed his arm holding his blade turned it towards the sky and drove her knee into the elbow, breaking his arm. He let out a cry of pain and brought his other arm out of the water prison to grab her, but Kakashi stopped him and he was trapped.

Izuna took his blade and jumped away leaving the rest to her sensei, she admired the blade but handed it to Naruto who had expressed interest in it earlier.

"I could have taken it myself you know." he said a little irritated Izuna just smiled at him, a real smile. She quickly clamped down on this but Naruto had seen it and she knew it. The fight between Kakashi and Zabuza was short and ended in a strange way, Zabuza was taken out by a hunter ninja with needles to the neck.

"Thank you for giving me an opening to attack, i've been tracking him for months now. If you would be so kind as to hand over the blade, i need proof of the kill and it belongs in the mist." Izuna wasn't having it though, she knew Zabuza was alive and well. All her gentle fist training with her mother and being able to see into others bodys ment she knew killing with a strike like that wasn't possible.

"How about you take your friend and run before i get mad." Izuna said with a hand on her sword.

"What makes you think-" but before the fake hunter could finish Izuna interrupted.

"Because i know he is alive, just go." the hunter appeared to think on this for a few moments before grabbing Zabuza and body flickering out of there.

"Well that was entertaining, nice work Izuna also catch me." Kakashi said as he collapsed from exhaustion.

Kakashi

He was warm and comfortable and judging by the voices he could hear he was safe, so he decided to ponder what had happened in the last fight. He was once again surprised by his students, they had no fear of Zabuza even after he himself was caught. Judging from the ease at which Izuna dealt with him he figured she must have been holding back during the bell test. So this left Kakashi with a question 'how strong is she really?' he also wondered about Naruto.

If she was already at jonin level without trying all that hard at thirteen years old, he shuddered to think about her power in the future. He broke down everything he knew about her in his mind over and over, but he still didn't know how she gained so much strength so fast.

He was brought out of his thoughts by Izunas voice, he hadn't even realised she was in the room with him.

"How long are you going to pretend to be asleep?" even though he hadn't seen her speak he could hear the grin in her voice.

"Must you take the fun out of all my habits." he asked with a loud sigh.

"Well if it makes you feel better, i read your book while you were asleep and i gotta say… you have a rather interesting taste in literature." he opened his eye at this statement, it took him completely by surprise, she had a habit of doing that. He took in her expression and it was pure amusement, he was expecting a blush or disgust but no she was amused.

"Well i cant say im happy that you took my book, but at least you aren't hitting me for being a pervert like most girls would." she looked at him in his eye before responding.

"Oh please, I'm a ninja. My job description is to fight and kill for my village, a little porn isn't enough to upset me." Kakashi was impressed with her maturity, he felt like that was a daily occurrence now.

Sakura

Kakashi had told Sakura to climb a tree with nothing but her chakra, she found this far easier than she expected. Though she was a little annoyed that Izuna and Naruto could already do this, they could even walk on water which was her next task once she mastered the tree walking training.

She thought back to that last fight with Zabuza,she was useless yet again. How could she become a jonin if she never helped anyone on even a single mission. She wondered what Izuna and Naruto were doing since they didn't need this training. When this mission was over Sakura was going to train everyday until she collapsed.

She wanted to be a jonin and she couldn't do that unless she steps up and pushes herself. She would become strong and stop being dead weight to her team, she didn't think she could catch up to Naruto or Izuna but she was going to try.

Izuna

It had been some time since the last fight with Zabuza and she honestly didn't expect him to come back for another round, but there he stood with the fake hunter ninja next to him. A thick mist was rolling in around them and she rolled her eyes, she could easily see through it with her dojutsu. Zabuza was giving her a death glare leaking killer intent, his gaze drifted to Naruto who had his blade resting on his shoulder with a grin on his face.

"See something you like?" Naruto asked when Zubuza growled in response he let out a short laugh. In an instant Kakashi had charged at Zabuza pushing away from everyone else and into the mist. The fake hunter ninja knew how strong Izuna was so he decided to use his jutsu from the start.

Mirrors made of ice formed around the genin of team seven trapping them inside and stopping them from aiding their sensei. Izuna activated her eyes and took in all the details, she couldn't copy this technique because it was a bloodline limit.

Kakashi

He had been fighting Zabuza for a little while now and it was clear that without his blade Kakashi was the better fighter, he hadn't even been scratched yet. Zabuza had taken some damage though, cuts bruises and a few teeth missing. He growled like a wild animal before he spoke.

"Enjoy this while you can, but Haku won't lose to your team, hes much stronger than me." Kakashi decided to end this and go help his team but before he could form any hand signs he heard the unmistakable sound of the chidori. But that couldn't be right, that was his jutsu and no one else knew it, he looked towards the source of the sound as did Zabuza. He watched as an ice mirror shattered under the force of a chidori wrapped fist, he could tell it was Izuna and was baffled as to how she knew it.

Then more and more mirrors shattered until none remained, he watched as Izuna threw fists and kicks at Haku without letting up and finished with a flurry of punches to the face that Kakashi could see even with his Sharingan. Haku fell backwards into unconsciousness, he glanced back to Zabuza only to see him charging at her. Before he could reach her Naruto kicked out his leg tripping him, before Zabuza could recover Naruto put the stolen blade to the back of his neck stopping him in his tracks. Before anyone could make another move a voice from the distance spoke up.

"Should have guessed you would fail, i wasn't going to pay you anyway. Alright boys lets show these so called ninja why they dont mess with me." it came from a short man in a black suit, Kakashi assumed this was Gato.

"What are you stupide, if two jonin level ninjas couldn't take us what makes you think you can do the job?" Naruto asked the group of thugs in the distance.

"We outnumber you and half of these men are former samurai," Gato said with arrogance.

"Some washed up thugs and failed warriors, yeah you got this." Izuna spoke with a great deal of sarcasm. Gato went to speak again but was silenced when a dozen shuriken struck him, he died almost instantly. The thugs were all a little scared by this but didn't back down, it was the girl who threw them and they all internally agreed to take her first.

Before they could make a move Haku had stood up and brushed himself off, he removed his mask and looked to Naruto. Naruto let Zabuza up but didn't return his blade, Zabuza pulled out a kunai and charged at the thugs with Haku doing the same with his senbon. Izuna watched all this with mild interest and looked to Kakashi.

"Since he's a rogue ninja are we still killing him?" she asked

"I think we should just leave them be, he has no reason to target the bridge builder anymore." She nodded her head and looked back to the carnage, most of the thugs were dead and the ones who weren't were long gone.

After the thugs were gone Zabuza stood across from them, he looked deep in thought.

"One day ill come for my blade brat, so you better be ready for that." Izuna smirked at that and Naruto looked ready for another fight, Haku bowed and used a body flicker taking Zabuza with him.

Kakashi

He was lost in thought yet again, Izuna knew his technique and he had no idea how. He thought that maybe she created it the same way he did but found that answer unlikely and unsatisfying. He couldn't shake the feeling she was more than what she seemed, he got a similar feeling from Naruto but nowhere near as intense. He had a lot to think about and plenty of time to consider the information, the trip back would take some time after all.

Naruto

Naruto had come to a decision, he was going to keep Zabuza's blade and master it. He also made another choice, one that might backfire. It might render all the progress he made until this point meaningless but he would do it and deal with any and all consequences. But he had a feeling, an unfamiliar but not unwelcome feeling that nothing bad would come of this strange choice.