Chapter 12: Confrontation on a bridge

Since they had been on the move and alert since the demon brother attack, Kakashi decided to let them rest for the night, but he wanted them up early the next morning in order to discuss what they were going to do next. Sakura was given first watch, and she was to wake Kakashi for second watch – Naruto and Sasuke were not to be woken for watch. If a battle took place, it was going to be Kakashi, Naruto and Sasuke at the front and so he had determined that they needed the rest.

Sasuke could see on Sakura's face that she was starting to realise how much of a liability she was to the team. The fact that she was always placed in a position that allowed the others to protect her, and when engaged in combat it had been instinctive to have her full back while Sasuke and Naruto engaged. Although Sasuke, and Kakashi, both acknowledged that the girl was better than she had been when they made genin, she was still only just above graduation level. Her physical strength, stamina and situational awareness just wasn't good enough to face against shinobi who were out to kill her or the client. She might be okay against a small group of civilian bandits, but that was all. Which was why Kakashi had allowed them to go on a C-rank mission despite having one weak member – they had only expected bandits and he felt that the other three members of the team could make up the difference if they faced low rank ninja. No one expected their opponent to be an A-rank, with possible S-rank skills.

But then again, their team consisted of an A, possible S, ranked and highly experienced shinobi, a technical low chunin and technical high chunin, which would be enough to take out high B or low A level threats in most instances. It was only because of this difference between skill and classification that had seen Kakashi continue the mission. If he was responsible for three fresh out of the academy, true genin, instead of just the one, he would have had the team turn back after facing the demon brothers and the mission would have then been taken over by a larger team of experts at infiltration, assassination and intelligence gathering.

In the morning, once everyone was up and rested, Kakashi called a team meeting before they had breakfast. Tsunami was in the kitchen preparing breakfast – they had given her some food from their own supplies and would also go fishing to help supplement the food they had so as to not put a large drain on their supplies. The message Kakashi sent back to the Hokage also requested supplies to be brought to them for the village until they could get back on their feet. They wouldn't be leaving until the Land of Waves was free of Gato's control – Konoha didn't stand by idle while tyrants took control of lands, especially when those lands bordered their own.

"Alright, this mission has gone from a simple escort and protection, into an infiltration and information gathering mission. Despite that, we can't lose sight of the reason we are here. So, Sakura, your primary objective is to guard Tsunami-san and her son, if something happens to them there is a chance that will demoralise Tazuna or lead him in a hostage exchange." Sakura nodded determinedly at her orders. "When we are all at the house, I will be increasing your training. I trust that you're good enough to deal with bandits on your own, but nothing more."

"I understand," Sakura nodded her understanding. She didn't trust that she was good enough to face off against anything more dangerous than a bandit, and even than she wasn't completely confident that she could take them down on her own. She wasn't as strong or as fast as Sasuke and Naruto, but she would try. Kakashi-sensei was trusting her to protect Tsunami and Inari, and she would do her best – prove that her sensi wasn't wrong to place trust in her. And she would prove to Sasuke that he hadn't wasted his time helping her train.

"Naruto, I need you to send out clones, disguised as animals and if you can, civilians. We need to know where Gato is based, what his numbers are and if he has any more ninja contracted. See if you can't find where Zabuza is hiding out, and what his current condition is after his confrontation with your clones. You'll be spending today at the house, writing reports of the information you find. Tazuna will be staying here, however, Naruto I want you to send a clone henged as him with me and Sasuke to the bridge." Kakashi outlined

"Don't worry sensei, you'll have a detailed map and outline of who's who by the end of the day." Naruto promised with a large smile and a twinkle in his eye. Sneaking around was something he was very good at from all the times he planned his pranks.

"If you need more than a day, that's fine." Kakashi disagreed immediately. "I'd rather detailed information and you not caught, then for you to take risks with your clones and alert Gato and his people that we're watching them."

"Yes sensei." Naruto conceded.

"Now, Pakkun will reach Konoha by the end of the day. Which means, reinforcements should reach us the day after at the latest and we can return to focusing on just our protection duty while they deal with Gato. However, we need to be prepared encase we have to act before then." Kakashi levelled each of his students with a stern look to get the seriousness of the situation across. There was a good chance that they would have to act before reinforcement turned up.

Breakfast was spent in a tense silence, with Kakashi informing Tazuna and his family that they were not to leave the house that day as they planned. Once they had eaten, Sasuke and Kakashi headed out with one of Naruto's clones walking between them in the standard two-man protection formation.

"How large is your current sensing range, Sasuke?" Kakashi questioned, his body was in its stereotypical slump but his visible eye was focused and he was clearly aware of his surroundings.

"If I focused a large proportion of my concentration, I'm currently at 10km. If you're not completely concealing, like an active ANBU, I can typically pinpoint a signature if I focus. My passive range is only 1.5km and I can't pick up most suppressed chakra with Chunin training or higher." Sasuke explained, giving as much detail as she could.

"Alright, I want you focusing for any signatures in the area. To your greatest range." Kakashi ordered. "I'll pick up signatures within 5km, so your range is better. I have your back."

"Hai sensei."

The rest of the trip to the bridge was spent in silence. Once they reached the bridge, Sasuke broke away from her sensei and went to the highest point she could find – which ended up being on top of a temporary support column. Kakashi remained with the hendged clone to make sure Tazuna's orders were relayed properly to the group of twenty or so workers who had been waiting for them. Once the orders had been giving, Kakashi disappeared to patrol the area before finding a point to settle and watch from.

The day was quiet, with neither Kakashi or Sasuke noticing anything although they did regular patrols around the area to make sure nothing had slipped passed their senses. Before leaving, Kakashi ordered the work men to turn up in small groups of three or four after Tazuna was due to arrive. If they arrived before Tazuna, or travelled in a large group, there was a chance that the entire work force could be taken out or killed in one go. Without a workforce, there was no way that Tazuna would be able to complete his bridge, and therefore Gato would have won. Or, he would have won until the Hokage sent a team to eliminate Gato and his men with prejudice and bring Wave under the control of Konoha and Fire Country for a period of five years until it had gotten back on its feet, and the Wave Daimyo could support his own people.

They were about five minutes from the bridge when Kakashi suddenly moved. Sasuke responded instinctively to her sensei's movement and dived forward, coming up with a kunai in hand and facing the opposite direction to which she had been heading where sensei now stood – a kunai in his own hand which had just deflected Zabuza's great sword from decapitating her. The shadow clone immediately dispelled itself so as to alert Naruto that they were engaging the enemy and if they didn't turn up in the next hour, he was to assume the worst and prevent Tazuna from leaving the house.

With a furious scrawl on his face, Zabuza jumped back to join another individual who had joined the fight. They were small, likely still a teenager, wearing some kind of uniform which obscured their body. Their face was pretty and ambiguous, making it difficult to determine gender, with chin length black hair.

"You seemed to have gained a minion." Kakashi observed lightly.

"And you've lost two." Zabuza returned. "I know you're the real Kakashi this time, there is no way you managed to hold three clones for a full day."

"Perhaps." Kakashi tilted his head and eye smiled. Sasuke kept her attention focused on the boy, knowing that Kakashi would deal with Zabuza which meant his little shadow would be her opponent. He didn't look strong, which meant he likely used speed in order to fight – something that could be extremely dangerous for an unaware opponent.

"Once you're dead, your other brats won't be able to stop me from killing the old man." Zabuza sneered.

"You assume that you can defeat me," Kakashi hummed. "Or that you're little gaka can defeat my student."

"Haku has been my tool for several years now. No genin will be able to defeat him." Zabuza mocked confidently.

"I wouldn't underestimate this genin." Kakashi spoke with complete confidence in Sasuke's skill. The title of genin he may hold, but his skill was far greater. Unless Haku was a jonin he had no doubt that Sasuke would be able to hold his own.

"Do you wish me to attempt capture, or straight kill, sensei?" Sasuke questioned. This far from the borders of Konoha it wasn't always the best idea to capture enemy shinobi, especially when their mission was looking to be long term, but they were expecting back up in a day and so the prisoners could be more easily contained and brought back to Konoha. Having someone that the Demon of the Mist' considered skilled and important enough to teach as an assistant would be a great boon for Konoha.

"Capture, but kill is acceptable." Kakashi answered simple. He knew that Sasuke had already killed once in combat and he had handled that remarkable well by focusing on Naruto and the mission. He would have to arrange a proper assessment of his mental health once they were back in Konoha, but for now he trusted him to be able to kill his opponent if necessary.

"Haku, show that brat why you're my tool, no mercy." Zabuza ordered.

With Zabuza's order, Haku immediately rushed forward while throwing an entire brace of Senbon in under five seconds. He was as fast as Sasuke had first thought, she observed deflecting Senbon with a kunai while moving to engage her opponent in an aggressive testing stance. Unlike the testing style Sasuke had used against the demon brother, this one had her attacking her opponent, pushing their defences to see how they handle her in close quarter. Because she was the one attacking, if her testing phase overwhelmed her opponent, she could bring them down without changing her style.

Haku proved his worth, matching each punch and kick with a block of his own but he wasn't able to remove anymore senbon and attack – and the many senbon braces visible on his person said he was very comfortable attacking from a distance using them. It was a blast of chakra from Kakashi and Zabuza engaging in ninjitsu combat which forced Sasuke and Haku to disengage.

"You are very good, Sasuke-san, but I will not fail my master." Haku spoke softly, readying more senbon.

Sasuke remained silent. She had no desire to engage in verbal sparing with her opponent. She'd gotten a feel for his taijutsu, fast and aimed at vital points to incapacitate but not strong or focused specifically on killing. He was extremely comfortable with the senbon, and with the way he so casually threw out large numbers of them, he likely had more on his person then even Sasuke's sharp eyes could see. But there was one thing she didn't know – how good was he at ninjutsu?

Blocking a new volley of senbon with the kunai in her left hand, Sasuke used her right hand to form the symbols of one of her newer techniques – Tiger, Dog, Rat, Boar: Breaking Fire. Unlike many of the other fire techniques she had learnt, this one had the fire formed in her hand instead of her mouth, and sent a large ball at the opponent which would explode with a second spike of chakra. The fire ball exploded against a hastily created ice wall.

"Interesting, a kekkei genkai," Sasuke observed.

"Yes, and this is why you will not win." Haku agreed, his voice remaining just as soft as it had been before, but there was a confidence in his ability which all kekkei genkai users seemed to have. A belief that because of their bloodline, they could not lose. This was a folly that Sasuke had acknowledged about her own clan, and one she actively avoided. Although she had practised with her Sharingan active – it would have been suicide to not get used to the perception change – she did not actively use it, nor did she ever plan on using it in battle unless she had no other choice.

Haku's hands flashed through a series of hand signs which had the light mist and water on the ground forming together in ice around Sasuke. Instead of allowing whatever this new technique was to take form, Sasuke substituted with a senbon that rested near Haku's feet and attacked with the kunai she still held. Haku reacted quick enough to stop the slash from cutting his throat open, but he still ended up with a large gash across his shoulder. Pressing her advantage, Sasuke landed a hit on Haku's ribs before he could move his arms to block. A kick to the knee disturbed his balance and allowed Sasuke to get a shot at his neck which she took advantage off.

Jumping back from her fallen opponent, Sasuke took a moment to collect herself. The demon brother had died because she had delivered a chakra blow to the heart, and so he had died without blood. Haku wasn't as neat – the arterial spray having caught her across the left side of her body before she could jump away. It didn't help that Haku had such a young and innocent face, even if she knew very well that he was a mercenary killer working with a man who was known for slaughtering children.

In control of herself once more, Sasuke looked to the battle between Kakashi and Zabuza in time to see her sensei coat his hand in lightning which created the sound of chirping birds. Zabuza's eyes widened in what was clearly fear and he tried to bring his sword between Kakashi's hand and his body, but Kakashi used the kunai in his other hand to stop the sword and plunged his hand into the other's chest.

"Sensei?" Sasuke didn't speak loudly, knowing that Kakashi had enhanced hearing, but wishing to alert the man to the fact that she was okay and her opponent down. Kakashi took a moment to check that Zabuza was dead and sealed both his body and sword within storage scrolls, before he turned and made his way to Sasuke.

"You hurt?" he questioned, his single eye doing a scan of her body – an action which she reciprocated. She couldn't see any injuries, and Kakashi was walking with his normal slump which suggested he wasn't suffering from chakra exhaustion – probably because he hadn't used his Sharingan eye.

"A minor scratch." Sasuke motioned to her arm where she had been brushed by a senbon. "But nothing that requires medical attention."

"Very well," Kakashi sealed up the last body and they continued back to Tazuna's home and the rest of their team.