The Sage Summoners of Konoha

by Kiebler

Kakashi is convinced early on that training his team would be the best way to honor the dead. What a difference such a small change can make...

3. Nami no Kuni

Well here we go again. I am pumping chapters out like I'm about to kick the bucket. I wasn't kidding when I had said this story is on my mind. I wake up and want to write more! I may have to decide at some point to limit how much I put out in a short period of time considering I don't want to burn my self out. Also to one of my reviewers, Naruto is indeed smarter, but that doesn't mean he isn't still a goofball. He's smarter in the sense that he can actually learn things, instead of needing it to be beaten into his head. Anyway, here is chapter three! Hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and am not planning on making any kind of monetary profit from this story!

XXXXX

'Thoughts'

"Speech"

'Biju thoughts'

"Biju speech"

XXXXX The Sage Summoners of Konoha XXXXX

Kakashi and team seven were on edge. They had an uneventful trip through the rest of Nami no Kuni. They had made it all the way to where they were to be smuggled onto the island. What made them on edge however was the mist that had settled in around them. The boatman had assured them it was normal but it felt anything but normal. As they approached the shore, Kakashi had his eye peeled on the shore. He knew that there was going to be another ambush, he just didn't know where. They beached the boat slightly and filed out onto the beach. Tazuna turned and shook the mans hand, thanking him quietly. After the short exchange of words, Tazuna pushed the boat back out and they all watched the boatman leave.

"Come on, my house isn't much further. Maybe an hour tops." They all sweat dropped at this. He was not the best when it came to figuring out time and distances.

Moving at a steady pace, the mist around them seemed to get thicker. Kakashi had a gut feeling that something was about to happen, and in this line of work, your gut was your only indication sometimes. He watched his kids and saw that they were tense too. They felt the same way that he did and he knew it. As he watched them however, Naruto quickly tossed a kunai to his left and they all heard a squeal. Making a clone, Naruto sent the clone over to investigate and see what was going on. They waited a few seconds before Naruto brought back a white rabbit, stained red with a kunai stuck in it.

Sakura let out a gasp. "Naruto! How could you kill a little rabbit like that!" They may be ninja, but they were all still rather young. Naruto put his hands up in his defense. "Hey, I heard something and I acted on it! What if that had been a guy about to ambush us? I bet you wouldn't be upset then!" Sakura frowned and then looked at the rabbit oddly. "Wait, why is this rabbit white? In this area the rabbits are usually different colors of brown..." Kakashi heard it before he saw it. "Down now!" Yelling at his team, they all dropped, dragging Tazuna with them as a massive sword flew right over their heads and stuck in a tree. They quickly rose as a man jumped and landed directly on the sword.

'Shit.' Kakashi was mentally chiding himself. This was going to suck. The man stood on the sword and looked over team seven and Tazuna. "So you are the runts that took out the Demon Brothers? I have to say, I'm not that impressed." The man took a step forward, falling lightly to the ground. Reaching behind him, he pulled out his massive blade and slung it over his shoulder. He had bandages covering his nose, mouth, and most of his neck. He wore a loose pair of pants, leg and arm warmers colored in an odd pattern, and a sling that he could holster his sword on his back. The man was tall, incredibly strong from the looks of the sword, and was leaking killer intent. The man was Momochi Zabuza, the Kirigakure no Kijin(Demon of the mist).

Kakashi wasted no time reaching up and pulling his hitai-ate up and revealing the Sharingan that rested beneath. He saw Zabuza grin. "So, Sharingan no Kakashi, revealing that eye of yours already? Sorry to break it to you, but that isn't going to stop me from getting that old man."

"Well you're going to have to fight me before you can get to him. Team seven, diamond formation, now! Protect Tazuna! That's the teamwork here right now, understand?" His team jumped into action as soon as he spoke. Naruto was in the back, making one clone as he jumped behind Tazuna. Sasuke stood directly in front of Tazuna, a kunai in his hand, and Sakura was to the left. Thanks to Narutos clone, they had Tazuna completely surrounded and were ready for the missing nin.

Zabuza chuckled. "Kopi nin no Kakashi, the man who has copied one thousand jutsu. I had information about you in our Bingo book. And if you think that your eye is going to be enough to stop me, you are dead wrong." As he spoke, Zabuza leaped back and flew through hand seals. Kakashi frowned. 'Kirigakure no jutsu'(Hidden mist technique)

A thick mist suddenly surrounded the area. Team seven couldn't see more than a few feet in front of them, Kakashi was an outline in the mist. They started to panic slightly. They were trained for this! They were ready! But what was the unearthly feeling of dread in the mist!

"He is going to come after me first! Zabuza is a master at the art of Silent Killing. Be on your guard!"

The mist continued to get thicker and thicker when they all heard a voice boom throughout the mist."Eight choices. Liver, lungs, spine, clavicle vein, jugular vein, brain, kidneys, heart. Which one should I go for first?" As Zabuza finished his little soliloquy, he unleashed a torrent of killer intent, stunning the Genin in their thoughts. All three of them stopped and were shocked by how they felt. They felt like they were truly going to die!

Sasukes hand trembled as he held his kunai. This pressure, this intent! It was too much for him to bear! "Sasuke! I will protect you all with my life. I'm not the kind of person who would let their comrades die." Team seven felt slightly relived at this. They steadied themselves and prepared for battle. As they prepared however, Zabuza appeared in the middle of Sasuke and Tazuna! "We'll see about that!" As he swung his blade, Kakashi was there, stabbing him in the kidney with a kunai. The Zabuza in front of him disappeared and fell to the ground in a splash of water. Zabuza was behind him then, and he cut Kakashi in half with his blade. Team seven let out a cry in surprise, only to visibly be happy when the 'Kakashi' disappeared in a pool of water as well. Zabuza froze in place as a kunai was placed at his throat. "It's over, Zabuza."

"Wow, copied it even in this mist. Now that is impressive. But you're a fool if you think that this is over!" The Zabuza in front of him dissolved and he felt a presence behind him. Ducking as fast as he could, Zabuza just barely missed Kakashi with his swing. That wasn't his plan however. He let his sword swing around and hit the ground behind him, and pushing off the handle, kicked Kakashi clear of land and out onto the water. Kakashi jumped up quickly, trying to get out of the water but Zabuza was there in an instant, flying through hand seals again. "Suirou no jutsu(Water prison technique)!

Kakashi was quickly enveloped in a spherical prison of water and was stuck. Zabuza kept his hand on the sphere and continued to pump small amounts of chakra into it so as to keep Kakashi trapped. "Well Kakashi, I would say its been fun but I would be lying. Now if you don't mind I'll be taking care of your little kids now." Making a Mizu Bunshin, Zabuza sent the clone in to take care of Tazuna. He quickly closed the distance between himself and team seven and stood looking at them. Kids, the lot of them. "Stop playing ninja you brats. You don't have what it takes to be ninja. Now run away and let me have the old man."

Kakashi struggled against the prison, but he couldn't move. "Run! Take Tazuna and get away from here! Our primary goal is to protect Tazuna! His clone can only move a certain distance from his body, now run!" Naruto looked at Sasuke and Sakura and smirked. "What do you guys think? What kind of ninja would we be if we ran away?" Sasuke and Sakura nodded. Naruto made a hand seal, and out popped four more clones who took up position around Tazuna. The three of them stepped forward and took up fighting stances. "Listen up you eyebrowless freak! You are looking at the soon to be most powerful team in Konoha! Team seven is going to show you how we 'play ninja'!"

They jumped into separate directions and had Zabuza at three different angles. Naruto made a few hand seals and unleashed a Fuuton: Daitoppa no jutsu. Naruto being directly in front of Zabuzas clone, sent the clone flying back a few feet before he dug his sword into the ground to steady himself. Sasuke quickly created several Raiton Shuriken and sent them flying at Zabuza as he was distracted by the Fuuton Jutsu. As it ended, the shuriken hit Zabuza in the leg, chest, and arm. Since this was a Mizu Bunshin, the Raiton jutsu stunned him for a few moments. A few moments was all Sakura needed however as she performed the Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu no jutsu, pulling the clone down into the ground up to his neck. Sasuke and Sakura then jumped over to where Naruto was and all three of them flashed through hand seals and released a storm of Katon: Housenka no jutsu. They stood there watching as some of the fireballs hit the defenseless clone, destroying it, and sending the rest out to hit the Zabuza on the lake.

Kakashi was beaming right then and there. His kids just proved that they could not only work as a team, but do so on the fly, against an opponent who clearly out classed them. Zabuza, while shocked at the tenacity of the brats, quickly made a few hand seals and unleashed a jet of water from his mouth. This quickly put out the fire but what he hadn't expected was a hail of kunai and shuriken to continue through the water! Eyes widening in surprise, he leaped away from Kakashi and the prison fell to nothing as the storm of weapons flew past them both.

Coughing to himself, Kakashi decided that enough was enough. He rose slowly and saw his team return to where Tazuna was, getting back into the original diamond formation. Zabuza landed a little bit away from where he orignially was, and he was livid. Outsmarted by a few brats who were just playing at being a ninja. "You know, I was really going to let the little brats live. Honestly. But after this little fiasco, I'll make sure they feel just how lost in this world they are." He started going through hand seals and was surprised to see Kakashi doing the same thing as him! They both finished in a few seconds and unleashed Suiton: Suiryuudan no jutsu(Water dragon projectile technique)! The dragons collided in the middle of the lake, causing a massive explosion of water. Zabuza let out a breath as his frustration got the better of him. 'What is going on!? Can he...'

"Read my mind?" Kakashi finished Zabuzas sentence for him, thoroughly aggravating the man and freaking him out. "Get out of my head..."

"You god damned monkey!" Kakashi once again irritated Zabuza, furthering his plan to make the man flustered. "That's it! I'm going to wipe you out!" As Zabuza flashed through hand seals however, Kakashi was faster, finishing the jutsu and launching a massive spiraling torrent of water that hit Zabuza dead on and flung him through the air and ended with him battered and sitting against a tree. Kakashi landed in front of Zabuza, staring at the missing nin.

Zabuza looked up and saw that damned Sharingan. "Can you see the future?" Kakashi simply nodded, taking out a kunai. "Yes, and I see that this is where you will die." Just as Kakashi was about to slit Zabuzas throat however, two senbon hit him in the neck and he fell to the ground. Kakashi was shocked and looked up to see a hunter nin standing on a branch. "Thank you for your help, I have been tracking Zabuza for some time now and was unsure if I could take him on my own." The hunter nin jumped down and approached Zabuzas body only for Kakashi to put his hand out. "You hunter nin dispose of the body on the spot no? Do you need proof of your kill? I'll be more than happy to assist you." As Kakashi spoke to the nin, he noticed something odd. This nin used senbon to kill Zabuza, and was hesitating to dispose the body... Kakashis eyes widened at the sudden realization as the hunter nin kicked Kakashi sending him away and into a tree. He struggled to stand as he was low on chakra. "Alpha!" Kakashi fell forward, as he covered his eye and tried to rise. The nin moved to where Zabuza was and quickly picked the body up. As he went to Shunshin however, Naruto and Sasuke both used the Shunshin to close the distance between them and kicked the hunter nin. Zabuza fell to the ground with a thud and the senbon in his neck were pushed out slightly.

The hunter nin eyed down the two boys in front of him and the girl still guarding Tazuna. This was not supposed to have happened. The hunter nin was quickly put on the defensive as wave after wave of elemental shuriken were sent his way. He decided that if Zabuza was to survive, use of his kekkai genkai might be needed. He dodged as long as he could and decided against using it now. They may have to fight again and he didn't want to give up his element of surprise. Using the Shunshin in rapid succession, he took several burns, cuts, and stab wounds as he rushed to Zabuzas side and got away.

Naruto let out a growl of frustration and Sasuke huffed. This meant that they now had two ninja to deal with as Zabuza was not dead. Kakashi stood and slowly walked over to his team and Tazuna. "This doesn't bode well for you Tazuna. We don't know how many ninja are working with Zabuza and this could mean that we are severely outnumbered. We need to make it to your home as soon as possible. How far away is it?"

Tazuna frowned. "You kicked their asses! There is no way that they can beat you guys! My house isn't too far from here, maybe half an hour?" Kakashi nodded and motioned for him to lead the way. As he took a step however, he fell to the ground. "Well shit. Naruto can you make a few clones to carry me? I seem to have over exerted myself using the Sharingan." Naruto sighed and made four clones who lifted Kakashi up and started to follow Tazuna. As they moved, Kakashi realized just how badly this was going to go for them. The reason that ninja wars didn't happen that often was due to the fact that once you used your trump card, other ninja could counter it and kill you. So ninjas didn't get the chance for rematches that often. Kakashi knew that whenever Zabuza was ready, he would have a strategy for how to kill him. That meant that he had to train himself as well as his team to prepare for the coming storm. He just hoped that he had enough time to train them.

XXXXX

The hunter nin moved for what seemed like an hour. Once he deemed himself far enough away from the area, he dropped to the ground and inspected Zabuzas body. As he inspected him, a sense of dread filled him. Sticking out of Zabuzas stomach was a single kunai. 'But when did they... no!'

XXXXX Flashback no jutsu!

Kakashi fell to the ground and tried to get up. He saw his kids going toe to toe with the hunter nin and frowned. He couldn't move right now. The Sharingan taking its toll on his body. Looking over at Zabuzas body, he realized that this was his only chance. Taking a kunai, he aimed for his head and let the kunai fly. He misjudged just how hard to throw it however, as he missed completely and hit Zabuza in the stomach. Letting his head slump down, Kakashi frowned. 'That will have to do for now'

XXXXX End Flashback

The hunter nin let out a cry of anguish as he quickly pulled the kunai out and staunched the bleeding. Kakashi had missed the vitals but the bleeding was the issue. Yanking the senbon out of Zabuzas neck, he quickly applied pressure to the wound and went to pull Zabuzas face wrap off. As he reached for it Zabuzas eyes snapped open and he let out a howl of pain. "Arghhhhhh. Damn it! What the fuck did you do!" He tried to roll to the side, to cradle his wound, but the ninja wouldn't let him. "Zabuza they figured me out! Kakashi tried to kill you and I had to fight. The Genin then tag teamed me as I tried to escape with your body. At some point Kakashi or the girl must have thrown a kunai at you to try and kill you. I am stopping the bleeding now but you must sit still damn it!" He forced Zabuza to lay on his back and he finally listened. "Damn it Haku, lets move. We need to get back and recuperate." He tried to sit up and realized that he couldn't move. "Haku..." He saw Haku smile sheepishly. "You won't be able to move for at least another week. Until then I'll have to take care of you." Zabuza sighed and just nodded as Haku picked him up and they moved towards their base. His last thoughts before passing out were of Kakashi. 'Kakashi...When we meet again, I WILL kill you.'

XXXXX Team seven, Tazunas house six thirty am the next morning

Kakashi slowly opened his eyes, examining the room around him. He was looking at a very traditional style home. Sliding doors, decorations, the whole nine yards. He slowly rose and rubbed his head. That fight with Zabuza should not have taken that much out of him. He sighed as he realized he had let his skills stagnate. It probably happened around the same time that he had left Anbu. He rose and went downstairs, walking slowly and carefully. He really needed to start training again. If his kids hadn't been trained as well as they had been, he truly worried about how that fight would have ended up. He entered the living room and saw Tazuna and his daughter Tsunami sitting at the table talking over tea. They noticed him coming down and quickly poured him a cup.

"Good morning Kakashi." Tsunami politely greeted him and bowed respectfully. When they had first arrived all the had done was thank him and bow to him for protecting her father. That had been am interesting night to say the least. Tsunami also had a son named Inari that they had met after they had been introduced to Tsunami. The boy was, uh, polite? He had told them that they were all going to die and that they could never defeat Gatou That hadn't sat very well with Naruto who argued with the boy. The boy had stormed off after that and he hadn't seen him since. Tazuna waved a hand in front of his eyes as Kakashi blankly looked over at him. "I said your kids already went outside! Jeez, you ninja can do all that crazy mumbo jumbo, but you still space out like everyone else." Kakashi thanked them for the tea and went out to go see his team.

Kakashi walked not too far away from the home and into the woods. He felt his students chakra signatures and simply wanted to see what they were doing. As he approached however, he felt their signatures disappear. He frowned as he entered a clearing that he knew they were in. He looked around and slowly smirked. He raised his hands into a seal and released a large pulse of chakra. "Kai!" In front of his eyes, three 'trees' disappeared and their stood his team, grinning like mad, even Sasuke. Sasuke was the first to speak. "How did you like our Genjutsu Kakashi-sensei?" Kakashi let out a low whistle. "I have to say I'm impressed." He looked over at Naruto. "When did you get the Genjutsu down? I know for a fact that you were having issues with this one." Naruto grinned at him. "Well Sasuke and Sakura noticed that I was having issues with it and decided to help me with it. I just put a lot more chakra in it than you normally would. Where they can just focus on a small area, I spread mine out and use more, allowing my lack of control to work for me! I also use the chakra to affect one of the sense as well and it still from a massive distance like you felt." Naruto scratched the back of his head and let out a little laugh.

"I'm impressed with all of you. You handled the Zabuza clone with perfect teamwork using the forms and jutsu you were taught. Each of you played your roles perfectly. Now, not to rain on your parade, that clone was only one tenth the strength as the original. While perfectly executed, that would not have worked on Zabuza himself. You three will not be engaging Zabuza at all, understand?" He received a trio of nods and moved on. "You mission in the upcoming fight will be to not only distract, but to kill or detain the fake hunter nin. Go in with the assumption that this hunter nin is a Chunin or higher. I saw that you two were keeping up with him which makes me assume he is at least a Chunin. Three Genin like yourselves can easily take down a Chunin with the teamwork that you have; However, I still believe that some more training is due so that we can gain the edge in this fight." Kakashi moved over to a tree and made a few seals, making a small wall of dirt rise up out of the ground so that he could sit down. He motioned for his team to come closer.

"Now, what are the basics of the ninja that I have yet to teach you?" Sasuke and Naruto went to open their mouths and stopped. He already taught them Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, and Taijustu. What else was there? Sakura spoke next. "We haven't had any instruction in Fuinjutsu, tracking, sensing, and well actually, quite a few more things." Kakashi smiled. "You are right. You are all very skilled for Genin but as of right now, your knowledge is simply a drop in the bucket. I am going to be teaching you a few things, but the primary one for right now is going to be sensing." He stood slightly and made a few hand seals. "Suiton: Kirigakure no jutsu!" A thick mist quickly formed and Kakashi disappeared from sight. Sensing that Kakashi was going to teach them by physically showing them, team seven fell into a triangle formation.

"Good. The first thing you must learn is that you can't always rely on your own senses to find something. You are a team and each of you will be gifted in different areas. Compliment each others strengths and cover each others weaknesses. The three of you must distinguish where I am using one of the senses besides sight." As he said this, three kunai came out of the mist and landed at their feet. "You didn't hear that because you are trying to rely on your eyes to see me, any attacks, or something that will tip you off to where I am. Now, cover your eyes with your hitai-ate, and try using your other senses to find me."

Naruto frowned as he blinded himself. This felt uncomfortable to him. Sasuke had a similar issue, being an Uchiha, he was always taught that his eyes are what would make him strong. Sakura, while uncomfortable, understood the necessity of this training. "Now, consider this a chakra control exercise as well. Slowly move chakra to different areas of your body and increase their abilities. Pump chakra to your ears to hear better, your nose to smell better, your hand or feet to sense vibrations. This is how you fight an opponent you can't see. You take away your sight and rely on your other senses." Naruto nodded to himself and pumped chakra to his ears. He was stunned at the amount of noise he heard. He cut the chakra and frowned. "Kakashi-sensei! How am I supposed to hear you when I can hear everything else?" Naruto heard Kakashi chuckle. "Focus yourself Naruto. Don't let every little noise distract you. Focus on what you want to hear." Naruto tried again, only this time, he started to sift through the noises. He heard bugs, the birds, the wind moving through the trees, and even a tapping sound. Wait, a tapping sound? "Kakashi-sensei, are you tapping a tree?"

"Very good Naruto. Seems that you have a good pair of ears. Sakura, you're up." Sakura nodded and slowly focused chakra to her hands. She put her hands on the ground and felt an excessive amount of vibrations. Realizing that he would tell her what he told Naruto, Sakura slowly felt through the vibrations until she felt an anomaly. "Kakashi-sensei, are you tapping your foot in a two, three, two rhythm? "Again, very good! Now Sasuke, you're turn." Sasuke frowned and focused chakra to his nose, enjoying the smells that he was greeted with. He smelt the grass, the trees, sap, his team mates, as well as... Was that smoke? "Kakashi are you burning something?" Kakashi then appeared in the middle of his students. "You all did very well. This is only the first step. We will be incorporating chakra into out search as well. Not only can you use the chakra to increase your senses tenfold, it can also be used directly to find enemies. Pulsing your chakra out and feeling what is there can be a life saver. It isn't really a good method of knowing the details, but being alerted to an ambush even a few seconds early can give you the edge you need to survive. Now we are going to play hide and seek. I'm going to hide in the mist and it is your job to use your senses, your chakra, and even dumb luck to find me. When you can find me within minutes, we will move onto combat scenarios where I will mock up an ambush attempt very similar to our Alpha maneuver. When you can successfully defend yourselves, that is when we will call it a day. So lets get started shall we?" With that being said, Kakashi disappeared into the mist and left his team to suffer through his training.

XXXXX Zabuza and Hakus base of operations twelve thirty pm

Zabuza and Haku sat quietly as they felt a presence approaching their base. Zabuza let out a sigh and Haku frowned. They waited and were not surprised when a shorter man and two thugs walked into the base. The shorter man walked up past Haku and looked at Zabuza.

"Look at you, some 'demon' you are! Not even able to avenge your own friends. Now what are we going to do about the bridge builder eh?" He was met with silence. "Come now, no need to give me the silent treatment!" He slowly reached forward but was stopped as Haku grabbed his arm. "You will not touch Zabuza!" As he grabbed Gatous hand, his two thugs drew their swords and were about to attack. That was before Haku appeared in between the two of them, holding their own swords to their throats. "That is not a good idea. I'm not in the best of moods right now." Gatou had the decency to look embarrassed. "Alright I get it! Come on lets get out of here. That bridge builder better be dead by the end of the week or your welcome here will be cut short!" The coward ran off with his two dogs leaving Zabuza and Haku alone once again.

Zabuza looked over at Haku. "You didn't need to do that. I had it covered." He lifted the blanket he was under to show the kunai that he was about to stab the midget with. "We can't kill him yet Zabuza. Even if he is detestable, he has been keeping the hunter nin off of out backs. We don't need that kind of attention right now."

Zabuza sighed and let the blanket cover him again. "I need a way to recover faster than this. We need to catch Kakashi off guard and end his little team. After that we can handle Gatou and leave here." He closed his eyes and muttered something to himself before passing out quickly. Haku nodded and went to get changed. He had some herbs that he needed to collect.

XXXXX Tazunas house, three days later

Kakashi stood in front of his team, actually sweating. The little brats were quick learners. He had focused on finding enemies with their other senses but they had eaten that up not too long after he had given that to them. He had moved on to using chakra but Naruto had so much of it that he could find him not long after a single pulse. The other two didn't really have the amount of chakra to spam the ability like Naruto had. This led to them using Narutos chakra to quickly find enemies and eliminate them. Or in this case try stabbing him. He had moved onto 'ambushing' them, in hopes of catching them off guard and being able to teach them a valuable lesson, but with Naruto's chakra pulses, Sakura keeping a hand on the ground, and Sasuke memorizing his smell, he was actually having an issue getting to them. So now he stood in front of them, his book in his pouch and his Sharingan out. He was training them and training himself at the same time. He was teaching them the importance of teamwork against a stronger foe, and how they needed to cover each other. They had caught on to this rather quickly as well and he called it for the day.

"You three are doing great. That's my limit for the day however. The Sharingan can be very taxing. I'm going to be resting inside for the rest of the say. You three are to guard Tazuna and accompany him through the village for the rest of the day. Do not leave his side and assist him where he needs it." He waved them off and went to sit inside.

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura all nodded to each other and ran off to find Tazuna. They found him just as he was going to leaver for the bridge. Sakura yelled out to him. "Tazuna! Wait up!" He turned to them and smiled. "Are you three accompanying me?" They all nodded. "Well I guess that's alright then. Follow me and don't lag behind." They all fell into a triangle position with Sasuke and Naruto on the right and left respectively, followed by Sakura in the back. The kept this position all the way to the bridge.

Once they arrived at the bridge they saw many men working all across the massive bridge. They stared in awe at just how huge this thing actually was. It was wide enough for at least ten men to stand side by side. They stood by and watched as Tazuna stood on the bridge and the bridge became an organized beehive. Tazuna took up the reins and easily led his men around, increasing their productivity. Naruto Sasuke and Sakura all went off to the side of the bridge and waited. They knew their job was to protect Tazuna, but they were honestly bored. Minutes dragged into hours as the sun slowly dipped over its zenith. Tazuna called out and the men working on the bridge returned their tools and started to leave. "Kids! Days over I have to run into town to get some food. If you wouldn't mind following me a little longer?" They all nodded and fell in behind him as they walked towards the village.

As they entered the village, they were shocked by how poor this place was. Beggars sat at nearly every open door. Little boys and girls ran up to team seven and either asked for food or money, or tried to steal from them. They were appalled at what they saw and when they looked up they saw Tazuna looking at them. "This is what Gatou has done to us. He has us by the throat and we suffer. This is why the bridge is a symbol of hope. If we have a land route, Gatou wont be able to just control us anymore." He turned and walked off, team seven not far behind. A symbol of hope indeed.

XXXXX Tazunas house, eight pm

Kakashi looked over the table at his team. He didn't know what was said to them today but they all seemed to have steeled their resolve. He looked over and saw Naruto talking to Sasuke and Sakura about how he was going to take down Zabuza down all by himself. It was at that point however, that Inari spoke up for the first time since they met. "Why don't you guys just quit!? Gatou is going to kill you guys just like he killed everyone else! You're just wasting your time!" Naruto slowly looked up and the sneer on his face let Kakashi know exactly where this was going. "Now listen here you little pansy! I don't care who he has killed! I'm not the kind of person who is just going to back down! We are going to help your grandpa finish this bridge and we are going to make sure that your town will be safe! Don't drag everyone down just because you don't have the heart to hope anymore!" Naruto slammed his fist down on the table and left the house, disappearing to kami knows where. Inari stood there for a few moments before tears rushed up to his eyes and he darted out the door as well. Kakashi sighed and walked out the door slowly, feeling that he had to talk to Inari more than Naruto. Naruto knew better than to go too far. He would see him in the morning he knew.

Naruto walked off into the woods, frustration clearly written on his face. He walked forward until his chakra pulse couldn't reach the house. He then made twenty clones and fell into a fighting stance. His clones wasted no time and slowly whittled down his defenses. As he was about to slip, he made two Fuuton: Shuriken and held them in his hand. Spinning them rapidly, Naruto used them as melee weapons and cut through his clones one by one. This went on for the better part of an hour before Naruto had wasted a decent bit of his chakra and fell to the ground exhausted.

Naruto awoke suddenly when he felt someone standing over him. Looking up he saw a very pretty girl looking down at him. She offered him her hand and he took it, standing up. "Oh, uh, hi there." The girl laughed and bowed. "Hello indeed. What are you doing out here all alone?" Naruto frowned and looked this girl over. Something seemed off about her. "Well I was training and I seemed to have overdone it." She looked at him with wide eyes. "Does that mean you're a ninja?" Naruto grinned "That's right! Uzumaki Naruto, future Hokage of Konohagakure!" The girl simply nodded. Naruto realized that she probably had no idea what that was. "Eh, what was your name again?" The girl gasped."Oh, I forgot to introduce myself! My name is Haku. It is a pleasure to meet you Uzumaki Naruto." She reached as she bowed and picked up and herb, placing it in her basket.

Naruto saw that and kept it to himself. There was something he was missing here and he didn't like it. "So what are you doing out here Haku?" She walked a few feet away and picked another herb. "I am picking herbs for a friend of mine who is injured. These herbs will allow him to get better faster. Naruto, may I ask you something?" Naruto was slowly connecting the dots in his mind but nodded. "Why do you fight?" Naruto frowned slightly at the question and thought about that. Originally it was so people would recognize him and so he could become Hokage. Now though, after meeting Kakashi-sensei, Sakura, and Sasuke, he knew why. "I fight to protect those that I love. My friends, my village, all of it." Haku nodded at Narutos answer. "That is truly the only time you are your strongest. When you fight to protect others, that is when you are most powerful. It lets you strive for greatness."

As they spoke Naruto allowed chakra to flow to his nose. What he smelled allowed him to connect the dots. He smelt slightly charred skin, blood, and the flowers in the basket. Naruto frowned and allowed his hand to slip to his side. He didn't let the conversation fall but made seals as fast as he could and held a Fuuton: Shuriken to Hakus neck. Haku tensed and frowned. "You are the hunter nin that we fought! Why are you here? Trying to make Zabuza better? What is to stop me from killing you right now?" Haku kept his hands on the basket he carried and sighed. "I am only doing what I can to protect my loved ones." Naruto was caught off guard, which is all Haku needed to kick him in the chest and flip backwards. Naruto growled at him and went to chase him but stopped as he leaped into the trees and sped away. 'Damn it! Why doesn't this shit ever go my way?' Naruto huffed and went to go back to Tazunas so he could tell everyone that Zabuza was going to be ready sooner than in three days.

XXXXX Tazunas house, one forty pm

Kakashi sighed as Naruto came back and explained what had happened that morning. This did not bode well for any of them. Looking at his team, Tazuna, and Tsunami, he sighed again for the fiftieth time that morning. "Alright here is the plan, We will all be accompanying Tazuna to the bridge for the text few days. Naruto, you will keep ten clones in the house to protect Inari and Tsunami. When Zabuza does indeed attack, we will be ready and do everything in our power to stop them from harming Tazuna. No more training for now. Save your energy and your chakra for the fight that is coming soon. Take the day to relax and meditate. Dismissed." Team seven immediately walked outside together so they could talk over some strategies. Kakashi nodded to Tazuna and Tsunami and went to sit on the deck outside as well. The coming days were going to be hard, but he knew his team could handle it. They had to be able to.

XXXXX

And there is chapter three! Just a heads up to whoever may read this story, I did just cherry pick a jutsu from one of Kenchi618s stories. It was the chakra pulse except in this story its less of a jutsu and just a location thing. Anyway, you should all go check out his stories because they are amazing and very well written. I hope you guys are liking this story! I am trying very hard with this and greatly appreciate reviews of any kind! Until next time!

-D.K

Jutsu list:

Suiton: Suiryuudan no jutsu(Water Dragon missile technique)- The user does a long string of hand seals which cause a column of water to rise and form into a dragon before striking the opponent.

Suiton: Mizu Bunshin(Water clone technique)- The user forms a clone out of water with one tenth the strength of the original.

Katon: Housenka no jutsu(Mythical Phoenix technique)-User spits out multiple fireballs that can also conceal a thrown weapon.

Raiton: Shuriken no jutsu(Lighting style, shuriken technique)-User forms a shuriken out of said element and can use it as a ranged weapon. Can be held and thrown, or formed and launched

Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu no jutsu(Double suicide decapitation technique)-User travels under the unsuspecting opponent and pulls them under the ground where they are then easy pickings.

Fuuton: Shuriken no jutsu(Wind style, shuriken technique)-User forms a shuriken out of said element and can use it as a ranged weapon. Can be held and thrown, or formed and launched

Fuuton: Daitoppa no jutsu(Great breakthrough technique)-User exhales a large burst of wind in a wide area, causing mass destruction, or in some cases, blowing weapons or jutsu away.

Kyouboku no Jumon(Spell of trees)-The technique allowed for the user to convince an enemy within a certain area that they were simply trees. This technique needed trees to work, and the closer you were to a tree the better it would work.

Chousen no Hibiki(echo of defiance)-This technique wears down an opponents defense to Genjutsu by attacking one of the five senses.