THE CHERRY BLOSSOM FIELD
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. The characters belong to their respective owners.
CHAPTER 4: LAND OF WAVES
All the four members of the team turned to the door, following the Hokage's gaze.
"Would you please come in?"
A burly, hairy, rough hand holding a beer bottle shot out and slid the door open and an equally burly man stepped in. He had decent built, grey hair and simple, civilian clothes on his body. A faint sway in his step and a slight, reddish tinge on his face indicated he was drunk, as if the bottle in his hand wasn't proof enough. He roamed his drooping eyes over the children and immediately, his face distorted with disgust and disbelief.
"What's this? They are just a bunch of brats," he insulted, taking a big swig from the glass bottle. A few drops escaped from the corner of his lips and slithered down his grey beard. He put a large hand on his waist and leaned on the doorframe for support as he continued his verbal banter. "Especially you, the shortest one with the stupid-looking face. Are you really a ninja?"
"Hahaha! Who's the shortest one with the stupid face he is talking about?" Naruto laughed, his whiskered face quivering a little but his joy died as he looked around and discovered that Sasuke was the tallest of the three, with Sakura behind by merely an inch. That left…
"I'LL KILL YOU!" the knucklehead shrieked before charging at the large man but was quickly pulled back by his collar by Kakashi. He squirmed, throwing kicks and punches in the air.
"What's the point of killing the person we're supposed to protect? Idiot!" the jounin chided.
The seemingly indignant man took another sip before closing his eyes once. Upon opening them again, he looked a little sober. "I'm Tazuna, veteran bridge builder. You should be risking life and limb in guarding me to the maximum until I return to my land and complete my bridge."
"Well, you heard the man," Kakashi said, accepting the mission scroll and turned to his team. "Prepare and arrive at the village gates in thirty minutes. We'll be leaving. Don't be late."
-oOo-
Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto found themselves fuming as another hour ticked by and there was no sign of their teacher anywhere. Even Tazuna seemed irritated and the way he was fidgeting with his straw hat and the backpack on his shoulders was irking the three even further. Turning his head, Naruto was about to start a conversation with his object of interest, the kunoichi with short, pink hair, when he was cut off by a loud voice.
"Hey, Pinky!" All the four heads snapped towards the man walking towards them. He was fair-skinned with long, spiky black hair and dark eyes. A strip of bandage ran across the bridge of his nose. He was wearing the standard shinobi gear, with a chunnin vest. All the males were either donning confused or bored stares as he walked straight to the jade-eyed girl, ruffling her hair.
"Kotetsu-san!" she chirped, and a small pout framed on her face a second later. "And don't call me that."
"I'll stop when you drop the -san," he smirked, withdrawing his hand from the top of his head.
"Kotetsu," she said, fixing a few ruffled strands.
"Pinky," the chunnin smiled cheekily. Sighing, the girl pouted good-naturedly at the man as Kotetsu finally acknowledged the others standing with her. "Are you going on a mission?"
"Yeah! Hokage-sama finally assigned us a C-rank!" the rosette chattered excitedly before gesturing to the blonde-haired knucklehead and the onyx-eyed brooding boy. "Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha, my teammates," she jerked her towards the burly man. "And this is Tazuna-san. We're his bodyguards to the Land of Waves."
"You know this man, Sakura-chan?" the blonde questioned with a slight confused expression. Sasuke just stared at her with a mostly blank expression on his face.
"Kotetsu-san is a chunnin. I pass by the gates on my morning run so we meet almost daily while he's on guard duty with…" she trailed as her eyes slightly widened. "That reminds me, where is Izumo-san? It's the first time I'm seeing you without him."
"Got called for something," the dark-haired chunnin grumbled, crossing his hands at having being separated from his best-friend. "I should get going too, as a matter of fact. Good luck, Pinky and Pinky's teammates."
Sakura just huffed in response, missing the look Kotetsu sent the blonde's way and the way he stared at the young Uchiha for just a second longer than necessary before smiling at the rosette and walking away at a fast speed.
Waving, she turned around to find her quiet, onyx-haired teammate looking at her with pointed eyes. She stared back with a mix of confusion and curiosity but before she could open her mouth to say anything, a small cloud of smoke appeared with a 'poof' and she already knew who had finally arrived.
"Good morn…err…afternoon! Let's get going," Kakashi muttered lazily, eyes glued to his orange book.
"YOU'RE LATE!"
-oOo-
Sunny. It was the perfect word to describe the day as she felt a satisfying 'crunch' erupting from the leaf she had stepped on. The group of five was travelling through a relatively smooth mud-path with forest on either side. Being shinobi, they would've travelled through the trees to increase speed, but having a civilian client changed the equation. Kakashi had taken the rear of the group, his orange book closed in his hand. Tazuna walked in the middle with Sasuke to his right and Sakura to the left. The weather was beautiful, with slight breeze blowing from time to time. Now, if only the loudmouth blonde at the front could tone down his volume, the day would be perfect.
"Naruto," Sakura spoke, giving a curious look as she saw Naruto turn back, his excited chatter halting for a second. "Why are so excited about this?"
He gave her a wide smile that threatened to crack his face in half, eyes darting all around in excitement. "You see, I have never left the village before, 'ttebayo!"
She gave an understanding nod back, but their blunt client scoffed. "Hey, am I really going to be safe with this brat?"
Kakashi laughed dryly for a few seconds. "I'm a jounin. I'll be watching over him so don't worry."
Tazuna seemed a bit more assured at the silver-haired man's words but narrowed his eyes again when Naruto turned towards him, stopping in his tracks. He looked positively offended, and pointed a finger at the bridge builder. "Hey old man, stop mocking ninjas so much! I'm a super-elite ninja who'll be the Hokage one day! My name is Naruto Uzumaki! Remember it well, dattebayo!"
"Hokage? He is the top-notch ninja in the village, right?" Tazuna asked suspiciously, lips touching the rim of the beer bottle in his hand. "Meh. You sure as heck don't seem like someone who can be the Hokage."
"Shut up! I'm prepared to do whatever it takes to become the Hokage!" the knucklehead shot back, the vein in his head popping. "You'll have no choice but to acknowledge me then!"
"Even if you become the Hokage…" the man uttered in a mocking tone, as if the idea was impossible in the first place. "I'll never acknowledge you, brat!"
Kakashi sighed and once again found himself holding the back of Naruto's hideous jumpsuit, preventing him from killing the client. Like back at the Hokage tower, the blonde squirmed and tried to pry himself away. "Kakashi-sensei! Let me have one shot at him! I'll kill him, 'ttebayo!"
"Knock it off," the jounin's exasperated but stern voice quashed the tension between the genin and the man. A few moments later, the group resumed walking, albeit quieter.
"Ne, Tazuna-san?" Sakura spoke up a while later, cutting into the silence.
"What?" the man replied irritably.
"Your country is 'Land of Waves', right?" she asked, trying to keep her voice cordial but the slight twitch of her eyebrow indicated that the rude response had rubbed her skin the wrong way.
"What of it?" his tone didn't improve, and it was evident he didn't want any sort of conversation right now. Good, because Sakura was done with her questions anyway.
"Kakashi-sensei?" she turned to her teacher. His eye wandered to her, showing that he was listening. "Do they have ninjas in that country too?"
"No, there aren't any ninjas in the Land of Waves." Sakura nodded, and the jounin would've ended the conversation there but at the confused and slightly curious look on Naruto's face, he thought that it was a good time to teach the kids about the shinobi system. "But in the other nations, while cultures and customs are different, hidden villages exist, and ninja exist there.
In the continent, there are many countries and the existence of shinobi villages means military power for them. This is how they hold and maintain advantage over each other However, the villages are not under the control of the nations but rather, equal in rank. Among the respective villages that possess a hidden village, the five nations of fire, water, air, earth and lightning, due to their large territory and immeasurable power, are called the 'Five Great nations'.
The Village hidden in the Leaves (Konohagakure) of the Land of Fire, the Village Hidden in the Mist (Kirigakure) of the Land of Water, the Village Hidden in the Clouds (Kumogakure) of the Land of Lightning, the Village Hidden in the Sand (Sunagakure) of the Land of Air and the Village Hidden in the Rocks (Iwagakure) of the Land of Earth. Only the leaders of each of these Hidden Villages are allowed to have the name of the Kage(shadow). The Hokage(fire shadow), Mizukage(water shadow), Raikage(Lightning shadow), Kazekage(Wind shadow) and Tsuchikage(earth shadow), the so-called Five Kage (shadows) reign supreme control over the tens of thousands of ninjas in each nation of the whole world."
Kakashi gave him students a few moments to let them soak up the information. He let his lone eye roam over the surroundings in an attempt to discern any sort of danger.
That old man is this incredible? Sounds very fishy…
That can't be true. No way, no way…
Hn.
"You guys doubted Hokage-sama just now, didn't you?" the sound of their sensei silkily cut through their thoughts, leaving them momentarily stunned at how he had read their feelings. They quickly shook their heads in an attempt to clear their suspicion, but Kakashi just laughed instead. "Don't worry, there are no ninja battles in C-rank missions."
"Then there's no chance of getting into a scrap with foreign ninja, right?" Sakura questioned with just a tiny bit of relief while Naruto looked a tad disappointed and Sasuke maintained his impassionate front.
"Of course not!" the jounin responded with a little more cheeriness than was necessary. The group fell into silence once again, but this time, a tense needle was hanging in between.
Kakashi didn't miss the nervous gulp and the bead of sweat trickling down Tazuna's temple.
-oOo-
Sunny. The word was indeed perfect for the day. Sakura couldn't help running her eyes through the foliage that surrounded the group. The sunshine was just perfect and it illuminated the flora in such a way that it appeared to be radiating. The rosette looked at the road in front of them. In the small distance, she could see a small puddle in the middle of the road. Not fond of getting her ninja sandals dirty, especially when the mission had just started, she easily skirted around it.
As she looked up once more at the sky, she let the sunshine bless her face and basked in the warmth. However, a small, a very small thought occurred to her as she quickly darted back on the path they had walked on. The puddle was still there, dormant and untouched and it set the jade-eyed girl's mind of a drive. It hadn't rained in weeks!
Her head whipped around, silently questioning if anyone else had noticed the unusual occurrence. Her emerald-green clashed with midnight-black. Sasuke gestured his head vaguely in the puddle's direction. She nodded once. Turning to Kakashi, her unspoken words hitched as a foreign voice of metal and chains burst in through the air. Before any of them could do anything, strong chains wrapped around the astonished jounin, restraining movement. His lone eye visibly widened as he found his arms completely bound, sharp and rugged chains extending down to his calves.
"The number one…down," Sakura couldn't help the horrified scream that escaped her parted lips as she saw the two intruders pull at the chains used on Kakashi, successfully slicing through his body in one fluid motion. Her eyes automatically closed as she could distinctly hear the metal and the slicing motions in the air and the spray of blood and Naruto's gasp from beside her. She clutched at her head, pulling her locks as she finally willed to open her eyes and gulped uncomfortably as she tried to see her teacher's dismembered limbs in the small cloud of dust that had formed.
"Number two," she heard the two attackers mutter in unison. They both had dark, dark hair with metallic masks covering the lower half of their face. What stood out the most, however, were the large metal gauntlets they were bearing on one hand each with a shuriken-styled chain running between them. The same chain they had used to attack her sensei, Sakura visibly shuddered.
Before she could blink, the two attackers had appeared behind Naruto, a deadly glint on their faces. The blonde visibly froze, turning to face the two with a slight shudder and shallow breaths. His eyes were widened, but his body made no other movement to defend himself.
Taking a kunai and shuriken, Sasuke directed chakra to his feet and sprang up in the air. He threw the shuriken directly at the chain, ramming it into a tree trunk. Following up with a kunai directly shot into the hole of the shuriken, he successfully clamped the blasted chains. Landing one foot each on the attackers' shoulder, whose movement had been temporarily restrained due to their co-joined chain being latched on the tree, he grasped their upper arms and sharply kicked on the back of their heads. The co-joined chain snapped where it was attached to their metal gauntlets.
Sakura was positively impressed with her raven-haired teammate's skills but it was shortly lived as she saw the two intruders preparing to attack Naruto and Tazuna separately. A quick look towards the knucklehead confirmed that he was still frozen on the spot.
"Naruto!" she shouted, and for a moment the blonde looked back at her. Cursing under her breath at the fact she wouldn't reach to him fast enough to help him, she instead focused on the midnight-black haired attacker instead. She flung a few kunai and shuriken at him in hopes of providing a distraction. When he turned his head slightly in her direction, Sakura glided across the road and threw out a kick directly at his face, which was easily blocked. Gulping, she could feel his leer eyes on her as she jumped back a little, right in front of Naruto. She adopted a protective stance, kunai firm in her grasp. The blonde knucklehead saw his pink-haired teammate in front of her while the masked man with the metal claw was charging at them at an alarming speed.
In a whizz, the attacker was no longer in front of them and a second later, Naruto felt a searing pain in his hand. Yelping in a mix of both surprise and pain, he couldn't help the shitstorm well up inside of him. All of this happened in a few seconds, rendering his mind completely blank, and before he could even hope to help with the battle, he felt more than heard a gasp. He didn't know if it belonged to him or someone else.
"Ka-Kakashi-sensei!" he croaked out, mouth agape. Sure enough, the jounin was standing in the middle of the clearing with the two attackers under bay, arms secured around their necks.
"Naruto, sorry for not helping you sooner. I got your injured," Kakashi spoke in a sombre tone. "I didn't think you'd be unable to move."
"Anyway, good job Sasuke, Sakura," he continued, eye crinkling in what could be assumed a smile.
I…couldn't do anything…Naruto stared at his teammates in awe. Sasuke was able to fight in his first real battle, was he not afraid at all? And Sakura-chan…she fought against that guy too…they both saved my life…
"You alright…scaredy-cat?" the onyx-eyed boy smirked mockingly, his hands in his pockets.
Something about the way Sasuke said that struck a little too close for Naruto. He opened his mouth to retaliate, insults just on the tip on his tongue before-
"Naruto!" Kakashi reprimanded, gesturing to the two men underneath his arms. "These guys, Demon Brothers, have poison on their claws. You need to take out the poison quickly. Don't move so much otherwise the poison will spread."
Naruto looked at his injury. Two blaring claw marks were on the back of his hand and the area around them had already started appearing a little bluish.
"Hmm, we'll have to go back to the village to get him to a doctor," the jounin mused in a bored tone. He lowered the next words but were well within hearing capabilities. "Man, this sure is a burden."
Burden, burden, burden…Why am I always a…Naruto rammed a kunai straight into his wound, enticing new blood to gush out quickly. Why is there so much of a difference?!
"Naruto! What are you doing?" Sakura exclaimed at his sudden movement, eyes going wide with concern. Naruto turned his back towards the four of them, carefully twisting the kunai around the wounded area to get rid of the poison.
I should be getting stronger. Here, I am steadily carrying out missions and training by myself every day, still…He thought bitterly as the thought of his hard work going to waste clammed him. I'll never get into a situation from which I'll have to be rescued!
"I'll never be afraid or a coward again. I'll not be a burden to my team, ever again. I swear on the pain of my left hand!" he declared out loud. "I'll protect you, old man, with this kunai!"
A silence fell over the group as they soaked in his words, his promises. Kakashi let another few moments pass before he cut in. "Naruto, it's all well and good to rid yourself of the poisoned blood. But anymore of that and you'll bleed to death."
…
…
…
"AHHHHH!" the knucklehead flailed his arms around in tension, drawing even more blood from the wounds. "No! I can't die like this!"
"Baka," Before the jounin could ask Naruto to present his hand so he could do first-aid, the pink-haired kunoichi held Naruto firmly by his shoulders to calm him down and taking his injured hand carefully in her, inspected the wound. He looked on curiously.
"Wow Sakura," he whispered, witnessing how in quick, precise and skilful movements she had cleaned, swabbed the area with antiseptic and wrapped the blonde's hand. He knew for a fact that this technique wasn't taught at the academy. "Where did you learn that?"
Suddenly, the rosette's face was encased in a look Kakashi couldn't discern outright. Her eyebrows furrowed, as if she was actually thinking over the question
"Just found out that this technique's more efficient," she responded at last, voice a little faltering.
The jounin hmmed in response. The girl had adopted a defensive demeanour and Kakashi knew he wouldn't be getting any more answers right now. Clearing his throat, he tried to dissipate some of the silence that had encased the group.
"Tazuna-san, we need to talk."
-oOo-
"W-what?" the stutter in the speech of the normally blunt man didn't help his situation. In quick movements Kakashi had tied the two attackers to the tree. When he next spoke, only the profile completely hidden by his mask and lop-sided hitai-ate was visible. "Chunnin from Kirigakure (Village Hidden in the Mist), Demon Brothers, these ninjas are known for continuing to fight, no matter what the sacrifice."
"How were you able to read our movements?" one of the bound men spat out.
"On a sunny day like this when it hasn't rained in weeks," Sasuke interrupted with a grim expression. "A water puddle shouldn't exist."
"Yes. Well done, Sasuke," the jounin nodded approvingly. "It is crucial for a shinobi to pay attention to his surroundings."
The onyx-eyed body let a ghost of a smirk crawl on his face before muttering, "Sakura noticed it too."
The said rosette's head shot up at the mention of her name, emerald-green orbs met midnight-black with some sort of…feeling that couldn't be put into words. She sent what she hoped was a grateful smile his way while he just nodded once in response.
"Sakura, well done," the jounin praised, patting her head gently. She smiled up at him, a faint pink on her cheeks. "Arigato, sensei."
"You're awesome, Sakura-chan!" Naruto chanted as well, looking at the pink-haired girl with a mix of wonder and awe. His cheeky smile rivalled the sun itself.
"If you knew, then why did you leave it to the brats to fight?" Tazuna interrupted the moment, voice surprisingly calm. But the way his eyes darted ever so slightly and his hands clenched and unclenched were not lost on the silver-haired ninja.
"If I had wanted to, I could've killed these two immediately…" Kakashi began lazily, but his eyes visibly hardened with the next words. "But I had to know, who the target of these enemies was…"
"Wh-what do you mean?" the bridge builder spluttered like a fish out of water.
"Meaning…were they after you, or one of us?"
The audible silence that descended upon the group was palpable. The three young genin were looking between the bridge builder and their teacher with confused, analysing and narrowed expressions respectively. Straightening his back, Kakashi spoke in a weighted tone. "We didn't hear anything about you being targeted by shinobi. We are only supposed to protect you from gangs, bandits and the likes. Your request contained only simple protection until you complete the bridge but… this is now a B-rank mission or higher, considering there are ninjas after you."
"Now, I'm sure you have your reasons but lying about the difficulty of the mission won't do," he continued, eyeing Tazuna up. When the bridge-builder didn't speak for another two minutes, Kakashi discovered that his patience was running just a little bit thin. "Your lies endangered the lives of my students. As capable as they may be, they are still genin. One of them even got hurt fighting a battle he shouldn't even be fighting yet. This is outside the scope of our duties."
"Sensei…" Sakura whispered after a while. "What about the mission now? Naruto's hand…"
All four turned to look at the blonde knucklehead, whose head was bowed and face partially obscured. All sorts of thoughts were racing through his mind. I'll never be a burden to my team ever again…
"I'm okay, Sakura-chan," he gave a big smile filled with determination and locked eyes with Kakashi, sky-clue orbs flecked with resolve. "We're continuing the mission."
The jounin gave his student a once-over. The change in Naruto's demeanour and body language were visible in the way he stood, back straight and legs firm. His hand covered in bandages were slightly clenched on his side. Seeing as he wasn't wincing, Kakashi assumed that the wound was already closing up. Maybe due to the….
"Sensei…" a deep, indecisive voice belonging to Tazuna, lacking its usual edge and mockery, made the silver-haired man turn around. He saw the veteran bridge-builder fidget a little before taking a deep breath and raising his eyes. "I…need to tell you something."
-oOo-
"Wow! I see it! I see it!" Naruto yelled, getting up from his seat on the boat to get a better view of the unfinished bridge, rocking the boat as a result. Sakura quickly clasped the rim of a boat in order to keep steady and not fall into the lake below. She scrunched her eyes at her reflection in the waters. Somehow, it looked…different. What exactly it was, the girl wasn't sure she wanted to find out.
"Be quiet! Why do you think we are hiding in this mist and not using the engine?" the boat-rower hissed. His hands, holding the single oar, wavered ever so slightly. "We'll be in deep trouble if Gatou finds us."
The blonde promptly nodded in understanding before putting his hands over his mouth. Kakashi fell a little farther into his seat, the events of how exactly they had wounded up with a C-turned-B-rank mission flitting through his mind…
"Sensei…I…need to tell you something. It's about this mission."
The masked jounin raised his visible eyebrow, indicating him to continue.
"You're right…this job is most likely outside of your duties," Tazuna admitted. "The truth is that…a very dangerous man is after my life."
"A very dangerous man?" Naruto parroted unintelligently, hand under his chin. When the veteran didn't speak again, Kakashi prodded him along. "Who?"
"You've probably heard his name," a dark look crossed the bridge-builders features. "The wealthy shipping magnate…Gatou."
"Gatou…" the jounin pondered. He had heard the name somewhere; he was definitely sure of it. A sudden brainwave made his eye widen. "Owner of the Gatou company…that Gatou?"
Tazuna nodded. "Yes. Officially, he runs a huge shipping company…but secretly, he sells drugs and other illegal items by hiring ninjas and gang members to take over small countries and other businesses. About a year ago, he set his eyes on the Wave country. Through money and violence, he quickly took control of the country's shipping industry. He now has monopoly over all business traffics in the country. That nasty, nasty man."
"The only thing Gatou has to fear now," he continued with a bitter smile on his slightly wrinkled face. "…Is the completion of the bridge."
"I see," Sakura mused, a hand under her chin and eyebrows furrowed. "Since you are building the bridge, you're in his way."
"So, those ninjas were hired by Gatou to assassinate you?" Sasuke questioned, to which the veteran nodded.
Naruto just looked between his teammates and teacher with a confused look on his face. Oh well, he wasn't famed for his smarts anyway, was he?
"If you knew that there would be ninjas after you, why did you hide that fact while making the mission-request?" Kakashi mumbled.
For a second, Tazuna looked properly ashamed and a bead of sweat appeared over his brow. "The Wave country is very poor, and even the feudal lords have no money. Of course, we don't have much either…definitely not for an expensive B-rank…"
The jounin's eyebrow drooped a little in…sympathy, he thought? He looked over to his students who gazed back at him with varying degrees of determination.
"If you quit this mission now, I'll most definitely be killed," the veteran rasped out in a throaty voice, having the gall to laugh but ended with a pitiful grimace. "But it won't be your fault at all, haha!"
"Just that my cute, little ten-year-old grandson will cry for a few days and my daughter will live a super sad life hating Konoha shinobi forever," he babbled away, trying to gain more sympathy points. "But it won't be your fault! Not at all!"
Sasuke narrowed his onyx-eyes at the chattering man. Any amount of sympathy he had felt had been ripped out the second the bridge-builder had started trying to guilt-trip them into submission by using his grandson and daughter's name, because really, who was the old man fooling?
A quick look towards his teammates caused him to further narrow his eyes to slits. Naruto was positively moved, and all the emotions he was feeling were clearly visible on his whiskered face. Tch. Shinobi rule number twenty-five: a shinobi must never show his emotions, irrespective of the situation.
Sakura, although posture still tainted with suspicion, had relaxed considerably. Her apple-green eyes were wide and open, like windows into her soul, and constantly flitted here and there as if deciding whether to trust Tazuna or not. The onyx-eyed boy didn't miss the look of pity and warmth that spread on her fair face. Scowling, he turned his head the other way.
Those two really were too trusting and emotional for their own good.
"Well, with all things considered…" Kakashi drawled, eyebrow slightly drooped. "We will protect you at least until you get back to your country."
As he saw a small smirk on the veteran bridge-builder's face, the masked jounin just hoped he wasn't making a grave mistake…
Taking another deep breath, Kakashi looked around himself with his lone eye. They appeared to have crossed the bridge and were now in a swamp-like area, hoarded by overgrowing trees with visible roots in the water. The boat gently touched the deck with a 'thud' and he and the others departed their travelling medium.
"This is it for me," the boat-rower said with a mixed expression of surprise and relief. "Goodbye and good luck."
Tazuna muttered a 'thanks' and Kakashi nodded once before the two men and three children started walking on the path dictated by the bridge builder. "...Then a left and then a right. Get me home safely."
"Yeah yeah," the silver-haired man replied lazily. But in actuality, his mind had been racing ever since they had stepped in that boat. An uneasy feeling had been rising in the pit of his stomach, and only seemed to grow with every step he took. Maybe he shouldn't have continued the mission. There was still time, maybe he could-
A slight whirr of a shuriken cutting through the air jolted him from his thoughts. All four of them stopped in their tracks as Naruto peered on to get a better look as to where his weapon had hit. "Heh…just a rat."
"Oi! Stop acting like a moron!" Tazuna roared, his exasperation and annoyance clear. Apparently, he wasn't a big fan of the blonde knucklehead from the start.
"There!" the boy shrieked before taking out another shuriken from his weapon pouch and throwing it in the bushes.
"Stop!" Sakura exclaimed angrily, shoving Naruto in the shoulder, not very hard but firm, when they didn't hear anything after a couple of seconds. Her hand was slightly trembling, and her demeanour had grown just a tad bit defensive. Mind jumbled, she couldn't help the nerves that were making her quite jumpy.
"Somebody is after us, I swear!" the blonde whined. She merely scoffed before walking with others to see what he had hit. A white rabbit was lying unconscious behind the bushes, with the shuriken stuck on the top of its head.
Gasping, Naruto took the small creature and rubbed his whiskered cheek against the rabbit's, all the while whispering apologies and sweet nothings in its oblong, pink-tinged ears. Everybody else was visibly relieved at having found only the harmless creature in the bushes, but Kakashi was far from relaxed. The unsettling colour of the rabbit was grating on his nerves. A snow rabbit in spring…so they're here already…
In the tree under which the group of five had stopped, a figure was perched in the shadows, watching them intently. His eyes particularly followed the masked jounin who, unbeckoned to others, stood a little aloof. Hands in his pockets, one would assume he was relaxed…if they didn't catch the sharp movements of his head turning ever so slightly as he scrutinized the surroundings. Something akin to acknowledgement and respect made the hidden figure break into a grimace. His right hand went to grab the hilt of the sword strapped on his back. I see…no wonder the Demon Brothers didn't stand a chance…
"Everyone, get down!"
Nobody questioned Kakashi's loud command. Throwing herself to the ground, Sakura could sense something whirr over the top of her head. The said object had rammed itself into one of the tree trunks, if the chopping sound meant anything. Hearing another strained movement, she opened her eyes to a sight she didn't quite know how to react to.
A sword with a rather large blade had been dug halfway into a tree-trunk, parallel to the ground. Standing on the hilt of the said sword was a man Sakura didn't know if she wanted to encounter so soon in her ninja-life. His skin was ghastly ash-y, build strong. He wore striped pants with brown-and-beige leg and arm warmers. A hitae-ate was fastened across his forehead and the area below his eyes was covered by bandages, hidden from view. Much like Kakashi's, she mused.
The said jounin grimaced under his mask. This is…
Naruto meanwhile, was getting excited, the eagerness at a chance to prove himself in battle churning his stomach in a good way. I won't lose this time! I won't lose to Sasuke…
Before he could take a step forward, however, a gloved hand shot out in front of him. Kakashi looked down at him sternly, stopping him in his tracks. Letting his eye linger for a second more, the silver-haired man raised his head, regarding the intruder carefully. "Well well…if it isn't Kirigakure's nukenin (rogue ninja), Zabuza Momochi!"
Him being our opponent…Kakashi mused, hand holding the lopsided side of the hitai-ate which covered his left eye. It will be tricky…unless I do this.
"You appear to be Kakashi, the Sharingan user…" Sasuke's head shot up at the intruder's first words. Sharingan?
His eyes immediately locked on his jounin-sensei as his teeth grit slightly in confusion and skeptism. Don't tell me, under that hitai-ate…
"Sorry but," Zabuza's heavy voice continued. "I'll have you hand over the old man."
Nobody spoke for a few, palpable moments. Sakura was almost ready to fidget with the growing tension when her sensei's words shot through the air. "Get into manji formation, you guys. Protect Tazuna-san and don't involve yourselves in the fight. That's the teamwork in this situation."
Without giving them any time to respond, Kakashi slowly slid up the drooped side of his forehead-protector. Time seemed to pass in slow motion as Sasuke saw, with slight discomfort, a scar running vertically across the jounin's closed eye. However, the boy felt a chill going down his spine when Kakashi's left eye opened. A small dot-like pupil was in the middle of a blood-red iris. Three black tomoe (commas) were placed along a speckled circle between the pupil and the outer-rim of the iris, with equal distance towards each other, forming an invisible triangle. The eye seemed almost…alive.
"Oh…I never expected to see the rumoured Sharingan this soon," Zabuza murmured with almost sick enthusiasm. "Well, this is an honour."
"Everyone is saying Sharingan this and Sharingan that!" Naruto lashed out. "What the hell is that?!"
"Sharingan…" Sasuke began, turning towards his team. "A power that the light of the eye generates and the pupil emanates. Wielder of this doujutsu (Visual jutsu) has the ability to read and deflect all types of genjutsu, taijitutsu and ninjutsu. The Sharingan eye is unique to the user of the doujutsu. However, that is not the only power of the shanringan."
"Well said. That is not the only power," the sword-wielding man sneered. "What's more frightening is that such an eye can access and copy an opponent's technique after seeing it even once."
"When I was in the ANBU Black Ops of Kirigakure (Village hidden in the Mist), my Bingo-book contained information on you," he continued, gazing pointedly at the silver-haired jounin. "The man who had copied over a thousand jutsu…the copy-ninja, Kakashi."
A…thousand jutsu...Sakura couldn't believe her ears. Is Kakashi-sensei that incredible a ninja?
"W-wow!" Naruto exclaimed his admiration openly while Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the teacher, mind both puzzled and skeptical. Sharingan is a special trait that appears in only a select few members of the Uchiha clan. Could it be…
"Let's end the talking here, I have to kill the old man," Zabuza said, crouching in his place on the sword. "But it seems I have to beat you first, Kakashi."
In a split second, the ash-y man had disappeared from the tree and appeared on the top of a lake, standing firmly on it as if the water was hard ground, one hand raised above his head while the other formed in a seal in the front of his chest. The rosette would've been impressed if she wasn't frightened out of her wits.
"Ninja Art: Hidden Mist no jutsu," were the last words they heard before a heavy fog settled around and between the small group, obscuring the view quite a bit.
"He'll come after me first," Kakashi announced, gesturing his students to stay close to Tazuna. "Zabuza Momochi was known as an expert in silent killing. You don't even notice until you're already dead. I haven't fully mastered the use of my Sharingan so you guys be careful."
Heavy tension seemed to seep in with the fog and descend on the five people standing practically blind in the middle of a road. Naruto flailed a little, squinting his eyes. "The mist is getting thicker!"
"Eight choices…" Zabuza's heavy voice hung in the air like an unsheathed dagger.
Eight choices? For what?...Sakura's mind raced.
"Liver, lungs, spine, clavical vein, neck vein, brain, kidneys, heart..."
Vital parts of a human body…
"Which one should I go for?"
Sakura blinked again and again, trying to get even an inch of vision as the white mist continued to envelope her. In a few moments, trying to see even her own hand in front of her face was becoming a challenge. An uncharacteristic bead of sweat rolled down her temple as she stepped a couple of steps back. She felt a slight bit of relief when her left shoulder brushed with Sasuke's right, basking in the solace of having her teammates by her side. Somehow, it gave her a little bit of courage.
Kakashi, meanwhile, felt his patience and laid-back attitude slick further and further. He gritted his teeth slightly when he looked over his shoulder and discovered that the mist was getting thicker, even so that he couldn't even see his genin students. Anger started bubbling deep inside his body at the thought of them being hurt. Naruto had already been hurt, dammit, and it provided Kakashi no amount of comfort knowing that he could've easily prevented it. The Demon Brothers were not very competent foes, but this Zabuza, he was in a league of his own. There was no way the three were prepared to handle him as an opponent. A sliver of guilt erupted in his head. Why did he have to continue this mission? His eyebrows furrowed further when he realised that if anything happened to any of the three, or the client for that matter, it would all be his fault. Another item to add in his list of failures.
Releasing a sudden surge of chakra, he saw the mist being swept away. Kakashi's back went ramrod straight, eyes hard and hands focused. He would have to deal with this quickly. Zabuza was not a man one wanted to fool around with, and the jounin knew that. His dark thoughts began to seep out in a tangible state, shrouding him in sheer killing intent. The intensity of the killing intent was such, that it not only enveloped the jounin, it leapt bounds and stilled even the air around the group of five.
Sasuke's eyes widened and his hands shivered. Actually, his whole body in entirety was trembling badly. Wh-what an intense thirst for blood…I-I feel like…like I'll be killed if I make even a single move…
The raven-haired boy could feel his eyes clouding over, his vision glazing over to degree that the things seemed blurred and crossed in front of him. So unfocused, he couldn't even register the things around him properly. This intensity of jounins facing each other…I feel like my life is being squeezed…I'll go mad if I have to endure this any longer…his onyx eyes fell to the kunai knife in his hand. I'd rather die and get this over with…mind still muddled, he twisted the weapon in his hand, such that the pointed edge of the kunai was facing his abdomen. Both hands wrapped shakily around the hilt of the kunai, the boy thrust the kunai in his own direction, meaning to stab himself.
"Sasuke." The kunai stopped centimetres from his stomach. The young Uchiha's head snapped up, black bangs momentarily whipping in front of his face. He stared at Kakashi's back, the small orange swirl on his flak jacket seeming hypnotic. "Don't worry, I'll protect you guys even if it kills me."
A weird sense of relief flooded the boy's entire being. The words had a hard impact. He blinked a few times, trying to regain control of his senses. A hand shot out and rested on his right forehand. He turned to see his pink-haired teammate smile at him. It was so out of place for situation like this where they were practically fighting for their life, but somehow, it just suited her face, he noted. Sasuke didn't know what possessed him when he rested his left hand atop hers and squeezed it just a fraction. If possible, her smile grew wider and her apple-green eyes shone with a determined glint.
The moment was broken by a slight ruffling of footsteps. Kakashi had turned around and was looking at his students with crinkled, closed eyes. "I will not allow my comrades to get killed."
"I wonder about that…" Zabuza's eery voice resonated around the group.
Before any of them could even blink, the missing nin's towering figure was in the middle of the three genin and Tazuna, separating them and rendering their formation useless. Kakashi looked on intently, his Sharingan eye gleaming.
"It's over," Zabuza whispered with a sneer, his hand going to the hilt of his sword. He made to swing the huge blade around, meaning to kill all four of them at once.
Sakura could only watch petrified as all this happened in a spilt second. The mist was bad, very bad. And things had gone from bad to worse when Zabuza had appeared in the middle of the four of them. But now? It was probably the worst-case scenario she could witness. Seeing the ninja's hand on his sword, she tried to prepare herself for the onslaught.
She blinked, and the scene shifted. Her eyes grew as wide as saucers when she saw Zabuza kind-of paralyzed in his position but what was more gaping was that Kakashi was in front of him, slightly leaned and knees bent. His hand was gripping the hilt of the kunai which was pierced into Zabuza's stomach. Her throat went scratchy when she realised that she hadn't seen her sensei move at all.
However, she felt a wave of anxiousness and slight surprise when she didn't saw blood dripping from the kunai embedded in the nin's stomach, but simple water. Realization dawned as Zabuza burst into a puddle of water. A water clone…
"Sensei! Behind you!" Naruto shrieked in warning. He looked on in horror as the real Zabuza appeared behind Kakashi and swung his sword with a good amount of force, effectively slicing the jounin through his middle.
A horrified look passed on his whiskered face, and seemed only a bit relaxed when his sensei too, disappeared in a puddle of water, indicating the same water-clone technique. Seriously, he had seen his teacher getting sliced twice during the mission already. The blonde just hoped that he wasn't making a habit out of that.
Zabuza looked surprised for a second, eyes widening in realization and disbelief. Even in this mist, he copied me?
However, he didn't get much time to himself as the gleaming blade of a kunai was now poised at his throat, dangerously close to his larynx. Kakashi's low voice came from behind him. "Don't move, it's over."
Naruto just looked with awe, admiration clearly etched on every inch of his face. "W-wow!"
Sakura looked positively impressed, shoulders slumping with relief. Sasuke offered a calculating gaze of his own.
Their moment was short-lived, however, as Zabuza emitted a low, threatening laughter, deep from his throat. Tension started lacing in the kunoichi's shoulders and her teammates became alert as well. Even Kakashi gripped the kunai tighter, eyes narrowing in suspicion and anticipation.
"It's over? You don't understand, do you?" Zabuza sneered, volume increasing with each word. His tone was mocking and angry, not expected of someone who had a weapon to their neck. "You can never defeat me with your monkey-like imitations!"
"But I must say you're good," he continued in a monotone voice. "You had already copied my water-clone justu at that point. You had your clone say those words to distract me while you yourself hid yourself in the mist and watched me. Nice plan, indeed."
"However," a second Zabuza appeared behind Kakashi, his aura positively dangerous. "I'm not a fool."
The jounin still stabbed the man in front of him, who turned into another water puddle as expected.
"That one's a fake too?!" Naruto yelled with wide eyes. He thought his head was going to explode by how the jounins were casually making copies of themselves, it was becoming hard to tell which one was even real anymore!
Zabuza swung his sword once more and Kakashi ducked, avoiding being split into two. However, the missing-nin continued the velocity of the swing, stabbing it in the earth and using the top of the hilt to use as a leverage, kicking the masked jounin high into the air. Quickly withdrawing his weapon, Zabuza ran towards his opponent, only to see some spikes on the soft soil just beside the lake. An evil smirk broke out under the bandages on his face. "Foolish."
With a quick backflip, the missing-nin disappeared into the lake. Naruto watched in horror, his mind going to overdrive. "Sensei!"
Kakashi resurfaced from the lake a couple of seconds later, completely drenched and understandably so. What puzzled him was the texture and the density of the liquid. What's with this water? It's incredibly heavy...
"Baka." In a split second, Zabuza was towering behind him, standing perfectly firm on the surface of the lake. Flying through a set of hand signs, he yelled, "Suiton: Suiro no Jutsu (water style: water prison jutsu)!"
"Damn it!" Kakashi could only look in horror as in a split second, he was encased in a water sphere, the liquid unusually heavy. The realization that taking a temporary refuge in the water was a terrible mistake hit him like a ton of bricks. Unfortunately, it hit a little too late. He could feel the water swirling from the point where Zabuza'a arm was in contact with the sphere; the faint sensation of his chakra being eaten away adding to the pile.
"It's a special prison that makes it impossible to escape," Zabuza spoke evilly, a haughty tone in his sentence. "Now Kakashi, I'll deal with you later…first, I will finish these brats off."
Bringing his hands in a seal close to his chest, Zabuza muttered, "Mizu bunshin no jutsu (water clone justu)." Almost immediately, a clone of him emerged from the lake's surface.
The missing-nin then turned to the three genin. "Acting all big, wearing a hitai-ate like you're a ninja," he scoffed. "But a real ninja is the one who has hovered between life and death multiple times. Only those who are worth being listed in my bingo book deserve to be called ninja."
The mist started enveloping a second time, particularly thick around the clone. Naruto squinted his eyes, trying to get a better look. He's disappeared again!
Until a swift kick in the face sent him flying back a few metres, his hitai-ate coming loose and landing near the water clone's feet. The clone scoffed, using the heel of his sandal to crush on the metal plate of the forehead protector. "You're just a kid!"
Kakashi watched with insurmountable feelings of irritation, guilt, anger…rage. He couldn't let down his team, not again. "You three! Take Tazuna-san and run! You have no chance of defeating him!" he shouted. "As long as he's keeping me in this prison, he can't move. Even the water clone can't go very far from his real body. Just run!"
And for a moment, Naruto wanted to comply. He wanted to run far, far away from Zabuza, from this situation. The way that missing-nin was just glaring at him made his skin crawl. As a fact, he knew he would be killed if he were to face him as an opponent. He really was afraid for his life in the moment. Pushing himself to stand up, he winced when a sharp pain shot up in his left hand. He peered at the bandages, a small gasp escaping his lips as all the events surrounding that moment came crashing down.
I'll never be a coward again…
He looked at the bandaged hain again, clenching it with slight force.
I'll never be a burden to my team…ever again
Naruto turned to look at his teammates. Both of them were staring at him with slight concern. He wondered if they were having similar thoughts of fleeing as he had. Probably not. If they weren't running away from this dire situation, what gave him the right to?
His jaw clenched as he slowly got to his feet. The kick was hard, and his face felt like it was throbbing from the impact. Shaking his head slightly, he readied himself, running towards Zabuza. That's right…I became a ninja and decided that I won't run anymore!
"Don't!" Kakashi shouted from his helpless position inside the water sphere.
His eyes followed the small knucklehead as he was kicked away once again, landing just a few steps away from his teammates.
"What're you doing?! We genin have no…chance…against…" Sakura's reprimand faltered when she saw the blonde slowly stood up once again, and in his hand gleamed the metal plate of his hitai-ate.
Naruto wiped a small trail of blood oozing from the side of his lip. "Hey, you eyebrow-less freak…"
Zabuza's eyes narrowed, indicating that he was listening, albeit not happy at the insult.
"Put this in your book: the man who'll become the Hokage one day," the blonde continued, fastening the hitai-ate across his forehead. "Naruto Uzumaki from the Hidden Leaf Village!"
He is…Tazuna's eyes went wide at the proclamation of the boy, something akin to acknowledgment shining in the brown-black orbs. He is not the brat I thought he was…
"A lot of arrogance," Zabuza scoffed, his hand twisting around his sword. "But do you even stand a chance?"
"What are you doing? I told you to run away! This fight was over the moment I was caught!" Kakashi felt like ripping all his hair out in frustration. "Our duty is to protect Tazuna-san. Did you forget that?"
"Old man…" Naruto stopped in his tracks, turning to look at their client.
His head was bowed, most of it hidden by the straw hat towered over his face. "Well…this is a seed I planted myself so I can't say that I want my life to be spared," he looked up, voice encouraging. "Fight as much as you want!"
A happy but determined glint spread all over Naruto's whiskered face. Looking to his two teammates, he saw equally readied glances. Any thoughts of running away were quashed immediately.
"I'm sorry, Kakashi-sensei," Sakura started, her eyebrows straight and her eyes gleaming dangerously. "Those who break the rules are trash, but those who abandon their own comrades are worse than trash."
"Tche, a fitting quote for the lot of you brats, I assume," Zabuza commented, letting amusement lace his tone. "Fine, I'll give you exactly two minutes before I begin my attack."
Immediately, the three huddled and starting planning at a speed that could rival that of light. Kakashi looked on with a torn expression. Directing chakra to his ears, he could make out the gist of their plan. "All attack together…Zabuza…destroy clone…"
The jounin gazed to his left. With a hand hovering inside the water sphere, the missing-nin looked rather relaxed. However, the evil glint in his eyes proved that he was listening in as well.
Seconds passed, and just when everything seemed eerily quiet, Zabuza sneered and clicked his tongue, "time's up, brats!"
Immediately, the three genin turned towards their opponent. Sakura nodded at Naruto very subtly, which Kakashi would've definitely missed if he wasn't watching with his eyes peeled.
Naruto formed the hand signs for shadow clone jutsu and jumped forward with a battle cry towards Zabuza's clone. The clone merely tsk'ed in response, readying the blade. However, at the last second, the blonde changed directions, aiming for the real Zabuza instead. He, along with his shadow clones, threw shuriken and kunai at the missing-nin and his trapped sensei before jumping and attacking. Zabuza kicked the incoming genin swiftly in the stomach, sending him flying a third time. Sakura jumped from her position near Tazuna, catching the blonde before he hit the ground.
Zabuza didn't have time to remark as he felt a hot sensation coming from his right side. Just in time to see a huge fireball approaching him and trapped Kakashi, he performed a quick water jutsu to counter, creating a thin steam.
Sasuke jumped back immediately to his two teammates. Kakashi blinked a couple of times. In his peripheral vision, he saw Sakura leaning away from Naruto's face, as if she had just finished whispering something. The blonde nodded afterwards, wiping the sweat and dirt from his face before fiddling in his pouch and retrieving a familiar object. The last thing Kakashi heard before smoke surrounded his students was the indistinct cry of 'kage bunshin no jutsu (shadow clone jutsu)'.
As soon as the smoke started to clear up, Naruto and Sasuke ran towards Zabuza, followed by…another Naruto and Sasuke?
Shadow clones…Kakashi breathed hard, unable to quench the anxiety and horror growing in his stomach as he saw Zabuza slice through the first pair. Both of them disappeared in a poof of smoke, letting the masked jounin feel slight relief that it had been shadow clones, not his two students.
Zabuza's clone, meanwhile, started walking towards Tazuna threateningly. The bridge builder walked back shakily, sweating sliding down his temple to his chin. However, before the clone could get into his immediate vicinity, a kunai flew and ended mere inches away from his feet. Turning, he saw Sakura armed with shuriken and kunai, surrounded by three of Naruto's clone, eyes challenging. "I am your opponent."
"Pathetic," the missing-nin's clone scoffed, but turned away from the veteran bridge builder regardless. Giving the rosette a once over, the smirk on his face widened a little. "You've got a dying wish."
Sakura pursed her lips in a straight line, her features grim. She knew she was probably biting off more than she could chew. Facing an ANBU-level missing nin by herself, a mere genin? Hah, anyone would know she was indeed signing up a death wish.
She looked around herself, three Naruto clones standing guard. Even if they weren't her real teammate, she felt a little relief course through her body. Just for a while…as soon as the boys execute the plan…she chanted over and over, taking quick, shallow breaths to calm herself.
She looked up, her emerald green eyes glinting. She nodded at narutp's clones, who nodded back.
Three chances, that's all I've got…
As for the other ongoing battle, when a horde of Naruto's clones attacked Zabuza again in quick succession, Kakashi was left scrambling for words. He was aware that Naruto had a rather high stamina, too high actually because of his…condition, but the sheer amount was astounding. In the commotion, he saw the real (hopefully) Sasuke fumbling with something inside Naruto's backpack. Squinting, he could make out some projectiles but…
Sasuke looked at the battlefield time and again. Naruto's clones were being kicked, hit and sliced left and right. The raven-haired boy knew he was running out of time here. Tying a fuuma-shuriken to one end of the ninja-wire, he whispered. "Don't fail, Naruto."
Zabuza had managed to get rid of the Naruto's clones rather easily, to no one's surprise. Just as he sliced the last one, Sasuke threw a kunai at him. It flew rather low, between the water prison and Zabuza's right calf. The missing-nin would've mocked him at his aim if he hadn't noticed the ninja wire attached to the hilt of the kunai. He looked up just in time to see a fuuma-shuriken, a deadly shuriken much larger than a normal one, flying straight at his face, air whipping in its aftermath. He once again dodged it by ducking, hand still in the water prison, keeping Kakashi captured.
"Still not enough," Zabuza taunted, but whatever words he was about to throw were cut short as he saw another ninja-wire attached to the fuuma-shuriken. His eyes widened when he witnessed that it was no ordinary ninja wire, normal shuriken were beaded into it like pearls in a necklace. Realisation dawned on him. The kunai thrown earlier and this fuuma-shuriken were tied to this same wire. What more, this shuriken-laced wire was aimed at the hand which was keeping the water prison intact. I will have to let go at this rate!
Sakura looked on with hard eyes. The first Naruto clone yelled and charged ahead, while the rosette stayed back with others and threw shuriken and kunai. Zabuza rolled his eyes and easily dodged the projectiles, while cutting the clone neatly through the middle.
Two chances.
Taking advantage of the distraction, she brought her hand up to her chest, first two fingers extended. Focusing, she transformed herself into Naruto and mixed in with the clones. Sakura, disguised as Naruto, and the two remaining clones attacked together, running in jagged lines so it was almost impossible to make out which one was the rosette and which were the clones.
Her movements faltered when she saw Zabuza's clone making hand signs. Thinking quick, she grabbed the collar of the clone nearest to her and threw it in the incoming line of attack. The clone, taking the full brunt of the attack, disappeared into a puff of smoke.
One last chance.
Sakura barely completed the last faction of her strategy before Zabuza jumped and kicked the last clone square in the stomach. It flew back, crashing in the ground in a heap. The clone didn't disappear immediately, but the force had loosened the grip on the shuriken in his hand. It rested flatly on his palm. Zabuza's clone towered over him, slight irritation on his face as he looked around with a chilly gaze. No sign of the pink-haired girl. "Cowardly brat!"
He slammed his huge sword in Naruto's last clone, piercing all the way till he felt the tip halt against the rough ground. With a poof, it disappeared. The missing nin's clone didn't wait around, turning around on his feet. A slow, almost psychotic smirk spread over his face when his eyes rested on the slightly trembling Tazuna. With the pink pest out of the way, Zabuza could complete his mission right here, right now.
But he was just a water clone after all, and therefore didn't react fast enough when he heard a poof behind him. When he did react, however, it was too late. A kunai had pierced his lower back and water was slowly gushing out. It was only a matter of time before he would explode into a mass of water, ceasing from existence.
Turning his head sideways, he saw the pink-haired girl grabbing the hilt of the lodged kunai, panting slightly. Her eyes were defiant, victorious and if she wasn't taking rushing air into her lungs, she would probably be smirking at him. His eyes first widened then narrowed as he understood just how it had happened. "You transformed into the shuriken…"
"Yeah," she nodded. "Although, it was pure luck that you kicked the clone and not me. The chances of you attacking me as myself were significantly higher, so I had to transform into Naruto beforehand."
The leaking clone made an expression between a smirk and a sneer. If he wasn't so proud, he could admit it was a good plan. Almost.
Sakura twisted the kunai and the clone immediately exploded into water, spraying more than a few drops on the green-eyed girl. Her hair stuck loosely to the side of her face and even her clothes became a little damp, but she didn't really pay attention. Her eyes turned towards the battle between the boys and Zabuza, missing the grateful and barely-respectful look Tazuna sent her way.
Zabuza found himself in a tight spot, something he hadn't expected from the brats. A poof behind him distracted him from his thoughts. Whipping his head around, he saw Naruto holding onto the ninja wire, a kunai in his hand. That brat! He had transformed into the fuuma-shuriken!
With a battle cry, Naruto aimed the kunai at Zabuza's right arm throwing with all his might. All thoughts of escape flew out of Zabuza when he saw the kunai and the shuriken laced ninja wire closing in on his farm. Cursing under his breath, he yanked out his hand from the water prison, the sphere collapsing immediately.
A small, relieved sigh escaped her throat when she saw Zabuza jump away on the lake's surface with no water sphere in sight. They had…done it.
Zabuza was angry, no…livid. To think that a bunch of kids had drove him to edge, it left him raging. The blonde brat was bobbing in the water, a stupid smirk on his stupid, stupid face. The missing-nin gritted his teeth, anger bubbling in his throat. "You damned brat!"
He raised his sword, intent on throwing it horizontally. Any intention of him playing with the kids some more before killing them was squashed immediately. Zabuza wanted to kill them now. A strange apprehensive expression laced with fear descended on Naruto's face. His face fell even further when he realised that he practically had no escape options in his arsenal. Zabuza smirked manically, ready to throw his sword when it was jerked still.
Murderous couldn't even begin to explain the expression on Kakashi's face. His eyes were narrowed to slits, silver locks partially hiding his face dripping with water. His back was hunched, and every inch of his body was soaked to the bone. His right hand was holding the sharp end of Zabuza's sword, blade digging into his palm by the way blood was dripping along the length of the blade but the jounin didn't so much as flinch, eyes as hard steel.
"Good plan, you guys," he praised, his gaze never leaving the missing-nin. The three students immediately perked up. Naruto, seeing his opportunity, swam to the shore. Sakura immediately ran to him, offering him a pink-ish towel which he accepted graciously with mutterings of 'you're the best, Sakura-chan!'. Sasuke also walked towards the two, stance still defensive. He nodded at his sensei. "It was mostly Sakura's idea."
The said girl shook her head and grinned in response. "It was all three of us. We knew we had no chance if we went after Zabuza on our own. We had to free you, sensei. The first time Naruto attacked, our motive was to find out if the water prison could be somehow broken from the outside, which it couldn't. Once confirmed, we knew we had to go all out."
"It was hard turning into that shuriken, y'know! Shadow-clones were just diversion, we just wanted to give teme some time to make the shuriken-wire, 'ttebayo. Sasuke-bastard has the best aim and he came up with that wire-idea," Naruto continued the explanation, chest puffing out. "Next time, I'll come up with a better idea, teme!"
"We focused on freeing you while Sakura stayed back to protect Tazuna-san," Sasuke uttered, ignoring the blonde's last exclamation. "The plan we made in the two minutes given was fake. We knew you and Zabuza would be listening."
"You three have really grown," Kakashi nodded, allowing pride to seep into his voice.
"Tsk," Zabuza sniggered. "I got distracted and released the water-prison jutsu."
"Wrong, you didn't release the jutsu," Kakashi corrected, a serious expression on his face. "You were forced to release it."
A nerve in Zabuza's forehead popped, becoming increasingly visible as he clenched his jaw.
"I won't fall for the same jutsu twice," the jounin gave him a hard look. "What will you do now?"
Instead of responding, the missing-nin jerked his sword from Kakashi's grasp and jumped away, landing a few feet away in the lake. Immediately, the silver-haired sensei followed suit, Sharingan eye spinning in action.
Zabuza started flying through hand signs at a speed almost incomprehensible to the naked eye. Kakashi did the same, copying the movements perfectly. At the same time, both yelled, "Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu (Water style: Water dragon blast jutsu)!"
Two enormous water-dragons emerged from the surface of the lake, crashing into each other. The entire lake flooded, water rising to alarming rates and washing over the group of four in the shore. When the water settled, Kakashi and Zabuza could be seen on the surface of the lake, the former using a kunai to counter the latter's heavy sword, neither of them winning or losing.
What's going on?...Zabuza jumped away a second time. Kakashi did the same. The missing-nin held one hand to his chest, raising the other one straight up. Frustration started blooming in his chest seeing Kakashi copy his movements. My movements…he's completely-
"Reading them," Kakashi finished, raising his eyes.
What the…is he reading my mind?...Zabuza could feel irritation crawling his skin. His eyes narrowed when he caught the gleaming Sharingan. That freaky eye…
"Is pissing me off!" the masked jounin completed the sentence again. A small smirk formed underneath his mask. His plan was in action. "Right?"
"All you're doing is copying me!" the missing-nin accused, the anger in his voice very palpable. His gaze was firmly set at the jounin, looking straight into his eyes without logic.
"You'll never beat me, you monkey-bastard!" both yelled at the same time.
Zabuza's eyes looked ready to pop off their socket when the jounin completed his sentence a third time. "Damn you! I'll make it so you can never open that mouth ever again!"
Before he could do anything, the scene before him halted him in his path. His mouth opened and closed again, unable to digest what was happening. Behind Kakashi, his opponent, he could see a faint shadow. It looked suspiciously like…
M-me?!...the missing-nin couldn't believe his eyes. Is this one of his genjutsu (mind illusion)?
He could only watch in astonishment as Kakashi made a few hand-signs and yelled, "Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu (water style: giant vortex jutsu)!"
"W-what?" was the only thing Zabuza could utter before a large volume of water crashed into him, whisking him away in a circling vortex. His mind was scrambling. H-how? I was just about to unleash that jutsu!
The ash-y nin tried to swim, but to no avail. The force and pressure was just too much. The rising wave of water crashed him into a particular sturdy tree and Zabuza knew quite a few of his ribs were broken, along with other injuries. His body felt limp and heavy, and he couldn't avoid the pained cry that escaped his throat as a few kunai lodged into his hands and legs, pinning him to the tree.
The water started receding back into the lake, leaving an obliterated forest in its aftermath. Kakashi jumped on a high branch of the tree Zabuza was pinned against. He looked down to see the missing-nin staring at him.
"Why?" Zabuza exclaimed. "Are you able to see the future?"
"Yeah," the jounin answered, holding up a kunai. "You're going to die!"
No longer had the words uttered, two needle-like senbons came flying towards Zabuza, nailing him in the side of his neck. He promptly fell down in a heap.
All the five heads turned at the newcomer. He was short, with black hair and a green haori with a brown sash over the standard kirigakure pinstriped outfit consisting of long-sleeved striped shirt and loose striped palazzo. His face was covered by a white, porcelain mask with two holes for the eyes and a thin, red wavy design, implying that he was a hunter-nin. His voice was uncharacteristically soft and young. "You were right, he died."
Kakashi jumped from the tree branch, landing next to the fallen missing-nin. Touching his neck for confirmation, he withdrew his hand on finding no pulse. "He's definitely dead."
He turned towards the newcomer who had delivered the finishing blow. The person in questioned bowed respectfully. "Thank you. I've been waiting for a chance to kill Zabuza for a long time."
"That mask," the silver-haired man muttered. "You're a hunter-nin."
"Impressive. You're correct," the person confirmed. "My duty is to hunt down missing-ninjas. I'm a member of the Hidden Mist Village's hunter-nin."
Naruto looked between the boy and the now-dead Zabuza, thoughts contorting and uncomfortable. He had been injured while trying to defeat that man, even Kakashi had a hard time! And this boy, no older than him had done it in moments! Naruto couldn't take it. "Who are you?!"
"Relax Naruto, he's not the enemy," Kakashi replied.
"I'm not asking that!" the blond shot back. "Zabuza was killed! A guy that strong…was killed by a kid! It makes us look stupid! How can I take this?!"
"I know what you mean," the jounin sighed, standing up. "But in this world, there exist kids who are younger than you…and stronger than me."
A strange look passed over Sasuke's face. He tipped his head a little forward, letting his bangs cover his expression.
Kakashi ruffled Naruto's hair in order to ease the blonde somewhat. His own vision was blurring slightly and his body felt very tired, the fatigue of the battle catching up.
The hunter-nin had appeared beside Zabuza now. Slinging one of the missing-nin's arms across his shoulders, he lifted his body. "Your battle is over. I must dispose off this body now. Farewell."
With a few hand-signs, the hunter-nin along with Zabuza disappeared in a flurry of leaves.
However, something about this whole thing wasn't sitting right with Kakashi. He knew how hunter-nin were supposed to work, but this guy…he didn't seem right. For once, hunter-nin didn't have to take the entire body. Secondly, they didn't usually use senbon for hunting. All the signs were leading to something…something Kakashi didn't want to think but with every passing second, his theory seemed more plausible.
Before he could utter a single word, his body convulsed. Black spots formed in his field of vision. Within a second, he blacked out, his limp body crashing on the ground below.
END OF THE CHAPTER
Author's notes:
Hey! Hope you enjoyed this next installation. I'll most probably wrap the LoW arc by the next chapter.
Thank you so much elisalove for checking out the story!
Reviews are appreciated.