Naruto: Shoton of Konoha

by Arch-Daishou00

: For Stormy Rebel, miss you, Joachim, and thank you: "By the actions of the traitor Mizuki. Naruto awakens a rare Kekkei Genkai. And his path has now changed. And in the darkness awakens an ancient threat more terrifying than the Akatsuki, which only stirs thought of myths from a lost and forgotten age." : huge world expansion story, OC. Co-Author: Etheral-23

4. To Nami no Kuni!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Chapter 4: To Nami no Kuni with demons in the mist

Team 7 was walking down a road in the middle of the forest surrounding Konoha. They had only left said village a few hours ago, and had some days of journey ahead of them. Tazuna was walking in the middle of the group, with Kakashi walking behind the rest, pretending to read his little orange book while giggling perversely, to complete the illusion. He didn't think much was going to happen on this mission, maybe a few thugs, one or two bandits, but nothing his team couldn't handle. But he knew he had to keep an eye out; he was responsible for the safety of his team, and he wouldn't let anything happen to them, even if it meant giving his own life in the process.

In the front Sasuke was walking, with Sakura trying to get his attention by trying to start a conversation, but she wasn't very successful; all she got in return was scoffs, and if she were lucky, a couple of "hn" from didn't matter that much to her; she just kept telling Sasuke of her life, all the things she wanted for the future and so on.

Naruto was walking on the right side of Tazuna, while enjoying the day. He was working on the water balloon that Jiraiya gave him, but he hadn't had much luck. So far it would only bent one way, nothing what Jiraiya's balloon had looked like. But he kept trying.

He looked over at Sakura and Sasuke 'Now she even let her fangirlish tendencies disrupt missions. She is supposed to walk on Tazuna-ojisan's left side to guard him. I guess it doesn't matter much right now; this is only a C-rank, but… I really got to figure a way to get into her head that she got to start taking being a kunoichi serious. If not, she could be killed, or one of us could, try to protect her…' Absently glancing at their sensei, he noticed the silver-haired Jounin lone visible eye expressed the same feeling observing Sakura's current actions.

Eventually the rosette ran out of things to talk to Sasuke about, and turned towards the bridge-builder "Tazuna-san, can I ask you about something?"

Tazuna looked at the little pink haired girl "What is it?"

"You're from Nami no Kuni, right?" she asked curiously

"What about it?" he asked just a little irritated. The drunkard was an old man, and he wasn't known for his patience.

"I was just wondering why you didn't use ninja from your own country? Don't you have a village there?"

It was Kakashi who answered "no, there are no ninja in Nami no Kuni. Some countries are too small, too poor, or simply don't want or need a ninja village. For Nami it's the latter. It's remote and isn't influenced or influencing easily by other countries, so there is no need for a ninja village. If a small country, like Nami, needs help from shinobi, they get it from a village from another country, like Konoha."

Tazuna nodded "you're quite right" and left it at that. After that they walked in silence, only interrupted by Sakura trying to get Sasuke to talk again from time to time.

They continued like that for a few more hours. They were almost out of the forest, when Naruto noticed something. It was a little pool of water in the middle of the road. He frowned 'That's odd. It hasn't rained for over two weeks; in fact, it has been quite the opposite. There hasn't been more than a few clouds on the heaven, and it's been baking hot. And yet, here in the middle of the road, in a month where the sun has been high in the sky, there is a water puddle.' He thought for a few seconds, trying to figure out how it could be 'Could it be?' He glanced back at Kakashi, who subtly nodded without taking his eyes off his book. They continued forward.

They passed the puddle without either of Sakura or Sasuke noticing the oddity. When they had passed it by a few meters it quietly morphed into two cloaked people. Kakashi and Naruto had noticed it, but didn't show. Quickly, one of the persons threw the other, retracting the kunai-chain that was connecting the two through gauntlets. They quickly wrapped Kakashi in it, before stopping on each side of him. The rest of the group turned around. Tazuna, Sasuke and Sakura looked shocked, while Naruto acted like it, but in reality he knew that Kakashi had a plan. Naruto took a closer look at the two now obvious shinobi, and saw their hitai-ate's 'Kirigakure. What are kiri-nin doing here?'

The two kiri-nin retracted the kunai-chain, slicing what appeared to be Kakashi in half. "First one down" the one on the left said. They quickly disappeared in a blur of speed, only to reappear behind Naruto "Second one". Their chain began to extend out, trying to wrap itself around Naruto. He wouldn't have any of that; he stomped in the ground, making a small wall of crystal appear between him and the kiri-nin.

They were stunned, and before they could react, a shuriken followed by a kunai impaled their chain on a tree behind them. Sasuke was up in the air going through some hand signs. He took a deep breath, before spewing out a large fireball "Katon: Gōkakyū no jutsu". The kiri-nin tried to pull the chain out of the tree, but quickly realized that they couldn't. They snapped the chain from their gauntlet, and dodged by jumped each their way, but they weren't finished yet. One of them charged towards Sasuke, and the other towards Tazuna, both planning to strike their target down with their claw.

Sakura quickly got in front of Tazuna with a kunai in her hand 'I have to protect him! He is our charge! But how? How can I do this?' she trembled lightly "Stay back Tazuna-san!"

Naruto saw this. He wasn't concerned about Sasuke; as much as an ass he was, he could take care of himself. But it was another story with Sakura. This was exactly what he had feared might happen. He saw the kiri-nin get closer and closer to the pink haired kunoichi, and knew he had to do something fast. Quickly he went through hand signs and slapped his hand down on the ground "Shoton: Suisho no Hashira."

Before the shinobi from kiri could react, he was shot seven meters into the air by a crystal pillar that had appeared under him. He narrowed his eyes when he looked down and saw the blond ninja holding his hand palm on the ground. Naruto smirked "Your battle is with me!"

Naruto quickly glanced over at Sasuke before his own battle started. He was doing ok as far as he could see; he were dodging most attacks, and quickly japing to counter. He looked back at his own opponent who was jumping down from the pillar. He looked at Sakura; he eyes were full of fear. He nodded at her with a smile. It seemed to help a little, as she tried to smile and nodded back at him.

Naruto jumped back to dodge the claw that was slashing at him from above. The kiri-nin was glaring at him. Naruto just smirked "Now, you can't expect me to nicely stay in one place. That would just be too easy, now wouldn't it?" He only got a growl in response. The kiri-nin began slashing at Naruto, who dodged it each and every time. Naruto jumped back after thirty second of that and laughed a bit "You will have to do better than that".

Sasuke heard Naruto laugh, and looked over to see how easily he was handling his opponent. It angered him 'Trying to show me up, are you dobe? Not going to work! I'm gonna get my opponent down in no time!' he thought as he ducked under yet another strike, only to counter with a kick in the stomach, which pushed his opponent back a meter or two. He charged his opponent and unleashed a flurry of punches and kick from his Uchiha style. However he was unfocused, this caused him to be left open, not going unnoticed by the kiri-nin. He slashed towards Sasuke's not open ribs. Sasuke saw it, but couldn't block it; he wasn't fast enough. Just before it hit, a couple of crystals shot up from the ground, blocking the attack.

"Teme! Get your game together! I can't fight both our fights!" Naruto yelled, jumping over a strike and kicking his opponent in the face. Sasuke scoffed.

In Naruto's fight, he was the clear superior thanks to his hard earned training plus Ero-Sennin. The longer they fought, the more of an advantage he had. The kiri-nin kept slashing at him, exhausting himself like that. Sasuke's were another story. They were close to equals, and it didn't help that Sasuke didn't keep his head cool. He tried to prove himself because of how good Naruto was doing, resulting in him getting bruises here and there, but no cuts so far.

Naruto winced when his opponent finally got him; he had a scratch across the back of his hand. Naruto decided that he had had enough of it "Sasuke, throw yours over here".

Sasuke looked annoyed by the fact that his blond teammate was giving him orders, but complied. The next time his opponent slashed at him, he grabbed his arms, and threw him over at Naruto's opponent. They knocked each other to the ground, and Naruto went through a seals "Kessho Purizumu". Three glass-thin red crystals grew out of the ground, encasing the kiri-nin in a prism. But Naruto didn't stop there; he went through another set of seals, before slamming his hand on the red crystal "Shoton: Baningu Kosoku." From the sides of the crystal prism, crystal chains shot out, wrapping around the two enemy shinobi. When it was done, Naruto lowered the prism, only leaving the two kiri-nin sitting on the ground. Before they could react, Naruto knocked them both out by slamming them on the neck.

That's when Kakashi came out of the tree-line clapping. "Very good, I'm impressed" he said with an eye smile. Sakura and Sasuke watched him with wide eyes, before glancing over where they thought they had seen him getting sliced in half. There were only wood-pieces left there – a clear evidence of a Kawarimi. Naruto just watched passively. He didn't think there was a way for Kakashi to get taken down by two ninja of that caliber.

Tazuna scoffed "Why didn't you help your students? They could've died! I knew I should've asked for some better shinobi" he said sounding a little bit irritated.

Kakashi looked back at him without emotion "I was standing in the tree-line all the time, ready to jump in at any moment if the need should arise."

He paused walking over to the kiri-nin, inspecting the crystal chains. Loosening them, the Jounin dragged the unconscious duo to the nearest tree. The silver-haired Jounin comments; "Now, isn't there something you would like to tell us? Those two are the Demon Brothers of Kiri; Gozu and Meizu. They are two C-rank missing-nin. While they could've been after one of us, but that is highly unlikely. For one reason; these three" Kakashi gestured towards his team "are newly graduated ninja; they haven't made their name yet. It's true they could've been after me, but I don't have anything standing with Kiri. Another reason is that we just got assigned to this mission. Not even the Hokage knew we were going to get it, before we did. So that only leaves you" Kakashi continued while tying up the Demon Brothers. Tazuna gulped. Kakashi ignored it for now and turned towards Naruto "You can dispel your chains now" Naruto nodded and snapped his fingers, making his chains shatter. While Naruto didn't need to snap, he loved how it looked. But to give him some credit, he was still a twelve year old, ninja or not. Kakashi saw the cut at Naruto's hand "Naruto, their blades are poisoned, don't move too much, or the poison will spread".

Kakashi turned towards Tazuna "I'll ask you more directly: are there any reasons for two missing-nin to be after you? Because we haven't heard anything about you being targeted by missing-nin. Your request was to protect you from armed groups like thugs or robbers. This is a mission that's above C-rank, possibly B-rank borderline A-rank. Our mission was to support and guard you until you completed the bridge. If ninja are our enemy, this mission would have been an expensive B- or A-rank. It looks like you have your reasons, but it only troubles us if you lie in your request details. This" he gestured to The Demon Brothers "wasn't a part of the mission."

That's when Sakura spoke up "This mission is out of our league. We may have been able to defeat these guys, but they couldn't have been more than high genin to low chunin level skill wise. If whoever is after you send stronger shinobi, we will be in trouble. Let's quit. We also need anesthesia to take out the poisoned blood out of Naruto. We need to go back to the village and see a doctor!" In the weeks since they had graduated, Naruto had grown on her some. While she still found him annoying from time to time, and she didn't like the way he acted towards Sasuke, she had started to respect him for his skills. Something she never thought she would in the Academy.

"No, that's not needed" the group looked at Naruto. Naruto looked at Sakura "Can I borrow a kunai please?" she was weary, not knowing what he was going to do, but lent him one. As soon as he had it in his hand, he quickly stabbed the back of his hand, forcing a lot of blood out.

Sakura gasped "What are you doing baka!"

Naruto shrugged "The mission is still on"

"Naruto, it's nice that you took out the poisoned blood and all, but you're going to die from loss of blood if any more comes out" Kakashi said with a carefree voice.

Naruto just laughed at the comment "As if that could happen". He knew of the Kyuubi's regenerative abilities that he had gotten. He dried off the blood from the kunai, and handed it to Sakura "Thanks for lending it to me". He then went on to drying off his hand in the grass, before continuing walking down the path.

Kakashi soon followed, with the rest of the group close behind. He watched the hand, and could see it was already healing 'So that's what he meant. It must be the Kyuubi's power. He knows more about it than I would have thought'.

- Fortress, Unknown location -

"Failed!? I spent a lot of money to hire all of you because I heard you all were skilled ninja!" a short man in a business suit said looking at a larger man, who was sitting in a throne-like chair.

"Stop complaining!" the man in the chair sneered, swinging a big butcher-like knife at the shorter man, just to stop inches from his throat. "I'll use this decapitating "knife" and kill those guys."

The shorter man didn't seem to believe he could do it, and starting talking in a mocking tone "Do you really think you will be ok? It looks like the enemy has hired good shinobi, and since the Demon Brothers failed in the assassination, they'll be more cautious, so it won't be easy"

"Who do you think I am?" the sword wielding person said, not liking the tone the shorter man was speaking to him in. "I, Momochi Zabuza, was called the Demon of Kirigakure."

The shorter man looked at him glaring back "fine, do what you want. But I expect him to be dead – and soon" he said, walking away.

- Team 7 campsite later that night -

Naruto was sitting on a hill at the edge of the camp. Kakashi had taken the first watch, and he was taking the second. He was sitting reading the book on fūinjutsu. He almost understood the concept behind the explosion tags. But he knew he couldn't make them yet. The blonde made a note to himself to have his clones work on his handwriting. He wasn't ashamed to say that it sucked; he hadn't really needed it – until now.

He heard steps behind and looked over his shoulder, to see Sakura walking towards him he turned to his book again "Can't sleep?"

"No" her voice sounded behind him "I was – hey! Aren't you supposed to keep watch?" she asked a little accusingly. Naruto didn't answer, instead he pointed to places at the edge of the camp. She looked to see a couple of kage bunshin. "Oh, sorry…"

"No problem" he flipped a page "why can't you sleep?"

She hesitated. She didn't really know if she wanted to share this with Naruto. She sighed, and sat down a meter beside him "I keep thinking about the battle. And then now, how tired Sasuke is because of it… I don't know."

This time it was Naruto's turn to hesitate. This was the moment he had waited for; the moment he could try to get her to act more like a kunoichi instead of a fangirl. "I have some advice, but I don't know how much you're going to like it." She just looked at him, as he continued "You need to get it together. We're shinobi now; we aren't just students. If it had been only you today, Tazuna and you would have been killed."

Sakura frowned. She didn't like it, but he was true "what would you have me do then?"

"Stop being a fan girl" was his tactless blunt response.

"I'm not a fan girl!" Naruto looked up from his book and gave her a look that said 'Are you kidding me?' She sighed "ok, maybe just a little bit"

Naruto shook his head with an amused grin on his lips "Try to take being a kunoichi more serious. Don't go on diet, you need the energy the food gives you. If you train without it, you will just become skinny. And not the good skinny you want, I mean bad unhealthy skinny. I don't think Sasuke would like that very much" she blushed like she had just found out her secret crush "and then start training. Stop caring so much about your clothes, hair and so on. Start focusing on training more." He paused "And for the record, it may even help your chances with Sasuke" it hurt a bit to say that to the girl he had a crush on "Sasuke is attracted to power. So if you become a powerful kunoichi, you may even get him."

Sakura nodded. She didn't like everything that was said. She needed to think about it. She rose and started walking back to her tent, but stopped and turned halfway around "Thank you… Naruto." Naruto just lifted his hand and half waved without looking up from his book, as to say 'no problem'. She walked to her tent, and tried to get some sleep before her watch was coming up. However her thoughts lingered some, especially on the new attitude of their blond teammate.

He changed so much since the academy… and ever since learning he has a Kekkai Genkai, he has been more responsible. He still acts only a little goofy, but he does not even ask me out on dates any more…

For whatever reason she felt a ping in her heart from that. He still calls her Sakura-Chan, but overall he has acted much more appropriate to her. Yet something still mewled at her.

'I really like this Naruto…. But kind of miss the old one… a little bit…'

- Early next morning -

Team 7 and Tazuna were sailed in a little boat in the thick morning mist. They were sailing from the mainland to the largest island of Nami no Kuni. The boat didn't even have a motor; it was propelled forward by a guy who was slowly paddling, trying to make as little noise as possible.

"The mist is so thick. I can't see anything in it" Sakura stated.

No one answered her right away, but Tazuna broke the silence "We should be able to see the bridge soon"

"If we sail alongside the bridge, we should be in Nami no Kuni soon" the paddling guy said.

And as if on command, the bridge appeared out of the mist. The Genin were stunned; it was huge. They had never seen anything like it. "Wow… that's unbelievable." Naruto said a little highly, while the other Genin nodded in agreement.

The paddling guy didn't like it "Hey, be quiet! We're using this boat and hiding in the mist. That's why I'm rowing instead of using an engine. In other words; if we get caught, we'll be in serious trouble!"

"Sorry" Naruto said lowly.

Kakashi was looking at the old bridge builder "Tazuna-san, before the boat gets to the pier, there's something I need to ask you." Tazuna looked like he knew what was coming "Who are the people who are after you, and why are they after you. That or we call the mission when you get ashore, and return to Konoha."

All the eyes of the Konoha shinobi were on the bridge-builder "it looked like I have to tell you the real story. I mean, I would like for you to hear my story. As you said" he nodded towards Sakura "this mission is most likely out of your job description and capabilities." He paused. No one was commenting, just looking at him intensely. "An extremely terrible man is after my life."

"Who is it?" Sakura asked

"You should have all at least heard of the name… Marine transportation billionaire Gatou."

That surprised Kakashi "Gatou? The one from the Gatou Company? He's one of the richest men on the elemental continent."

Tazuna nodded "Yeah, he is the president of the Gatou Company on the outside. But underground he uses gangs and ninjas to smuggle drugs and contraband goods. He also does a nasty jobs like takeovers of other companies and small countries. And one year ago, he set his sight on Nami no Kuni. He entered this country using violence and wealth as his shield and he quickly took over the island's sea traffic and transportation."

"Of course…" Naruto said, bringing all eyes on him.

"Of course what dobe?" Sasuke asked, irritated that Naruto apparently figured something out before him.

"If you wanted to take over a country like Nami, what would be the first thing you were going to do?" neither Sakura nor Sasuke answered him. "Take over the shipping industry. If you control that, you control everything in a country like this. They use the shipping industry to get things from the mainland, to transport stuff between the islands and so on. In a country like Nami, controlling the sea means ruling over the wealth, politics and the people. By taking over the shipping industry, you effectively control close to everything in a country like this."

Sakura was wide eyed; 'he actually paid attention?! I thought he slept through the studies?'

"You're quite right" Tazuna nodded in agreement "And the one thing Gatou fears is the completion of my bridge, which has been under construction for quite some time."

Sakura seemed to catch on "I see… So you, as the one building the bridge, it became an obstacle to him."

"Then those ninjas were sent by Gatou" Sasuke concluded

Kakashi turned back to look at Tazuna "But what I don't understand is this: He's a dangerous man that uses shinobi. Why did you hide that fact when you came to us?"

It wasn't him that answered, but Naruto "isn't it obvious Kakashi-sensei?" Kakashi looked questioning at Naruto "Gatou has taken over the economy of this place, so the people here can't have much money to begin with. And then add the fact that they are building the bridge, they have even less. I'm guessing they didn't have enough money to pay for a higher ranking mission. But if you ask me, Sandaime-jiji would probably have made a deal with you guys, though you wouldn't know that."

"You're right again. Nami no Kuni is a really poor country. Even the feudal lord doesn't have much money. We don't have the money to request for an expensive B-rank or above mission… If you quit your mission after I land, I'll be killed for sure while I go home…" He paused "But there's no need for you to blame yourselves. Only my cute eight year old grandson will cry and cry and cry some more." Naruto got a feeling he knew where this was going "And my daughter will hold a grudge against Konoha and its shinobi and live a lonely life." He paused again, looking around at the sweat dropped faces of the Konoha-nin "But it's not your fault."

Kakashi seemed to be thinking for a second "I guess it can't be helped then. We will continue to escort you."

"That's good to hear."

It hadn't been much longer after that conversation before they had seen shore. Now they were walking down one of the many paths in Nami no Kuni to Tazuna's home. Team 7 was on guard, now that they knew what they were up knew that Gatou probably would send stronger shinobi next time.

They were walking cautiously down one of the many roads in Wave. They were surrounding Tazuna, Kakashi taking the rear, Naruto taking the front, and Sasuke and Sakura taking the flanks. Suddenly Naruto conjured a couple of shuriken, and threw them into some bushes. The rest of the team stopped in their tracks, holding their kunai in defensive positions.

They kept their guard up. Then Naruto blinked a few times "Sorry, I thought I heard something over there."

"You're such a dobe" Sasuke said, putting his kunai down his kunai-holder again.

Kakashi nodded at Naruto before heading over to the moved it away, finding a dead white-furred bunny. The Jounin frowned 'That's a snow rabbit. But what's with the color of its fur? They only have white fur during winter, when the days are short.' He looked around the tree-line, trying to spot anyone close by. That means it is a rabbit that was raised inside a place where the sun isn't a factor, highly likely for the Kawarimi no jutsu. He kept looking around, not going unnoticed by Naruto and Sasuke. Sasuke had been shown up by Naruto more than he liked in the past few days. They readied themselves.

Kakashi spotted a sliver of silver in the corner of his eye. "Everyone, get down!" A big butcher-like sword were flying like a deadly Frisbee through the air, heading towards were Tazuna was standing. Naruto took action first, grabbing Tazuna's sleeve, and ducked, forcing the old man with him. Sasuke wasn't far behind, grabbing Sakura's wrist. The sword flew over their heads by mere centimeters, before hitting and embedding itself in a tree behind them. A man appeared on the handle of the sword.

"Sharingan no Kakashi. I see. Shinobi on the level of the Demon Brothers couldn't have handled you." The man looked over the Konoha-nin.

Kakashi stepped forward. "That may very well be, but it wasn't me who took them down. It was my team" he looked the man over.

Sasuke meanwhile reacted on the Sharingan part. 'Kakashi-sensei has the Sharingan? But I thought only members of my clan had it' he frowned, then smiled a bit, as much as Sasuke can smile anyway, 'I guess I can learn a thing or two from him after all.'

"Momochi Zabuza, also known as the Demon of the Hidden Mist. Current status: missing-nin. Forced into hiding after an unsuccessful coup d'état against the Yondaime Mizukage" Kakashi looked back at his team. "Team, stay back. You'll only get in the way"

Sasuke scoffed at that "Why? We took the Demon Brothers down pretty easy!" now it was Naruto's turn to scoff. Sasuke turned towards him "Do you have something to say?"

"Yeah, the Demon Brothers must've hit your head pretty hard. The Demon Brothers were high genin to low chunin level. Momochi Zabuza, on the other hand, is at low to mid Jounin level; we wouldn't stand a chance. The only one on our team who has a chance is Kakashi-sensei, and the best teamwork we can offer him right now, is stay out of his way" Naruto was so glad he had talked Jiji into giving him one of the bingo books. He had memorized it, so he would know when to fight and when to run. Sasuke just scoffed. Kakashi nodded approvingly back at Naruto.

"Now, we can do this in one of two ways. One: you simply hand over the old man, and I let you go without a scratch" Zabuza's voice sounded. Then he smirked, jumping down from his spot on the sword, taking it with him down "Or two: you refuse, and I kill you all before you can count to five" he finished, getting in to his battle-stance.

Kakashi looked seriously at Zabuza. 'If he is our enemy' Kakashi moved his hand up towards his hitai-ate, pulling it up slightly 'I can't afford to hold back' he pushed the hitai-ate the rest of the way up, exposing his left eye: The Sharingan. He turned his face slightly, to see his team out of the corner of his eye "everyone,form the triangle formation. Protect Tazuna-san" the three Genin were fast, taking the position: Tazuna in the middle, with the three Genin standing around, Sakura and Sasuke having regular kunai up in front of them, and Naruto having a crystal version.

"Oh, I'm honored. I get to see the famous Sharingan right of the bat. This will be interesting" he continued while a thick mist was forming "but let's cut the chit-chat now". He vanished in a blur of speed, before reappearing on top of a lake. The three Genin were surprised and impressed by the speed, but it quickly turned into fear. They realized they didn't have chance, what so ever, against him.

Zabuza stood with half the ram sign in front of his chest, while his other arm was pointing up. The water under him started to make small waves, while water particles swirled around him. 'He's putting a lot of chakra into the water' Kakashi noticed. He brought up his kunai, ready to charge.

He didn't make it before Zabuza casted his jutsu. "Kirigakure no Jutsu" the mist peaked; Team 7 couldn't see three feet in front of them.

The Genin couldn't see Kakashi anymore, and tightened up their stance. "Eight points" it sounded from everywhere and nowhere. "The larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular vein, collarbone, kidney, and the heart. Eight points I need to strike once, and you're dead" the Genin shuddered "Now, how do you wish to die?"

Kakashi, also hearing this, summoned a bunch of chakra, making a small shockwave, effectively pushing away the mist just around him and his team. Sasuke was frozen in fear 'what an intense thirst for blood! One breathing motion, or one eye movement will be detected, and it'll get me killed… What an atmosphere! If I stay here much longer, I'll go insane!' Sasuke started trembling now.

"Sasuke" Kakashi's voice sounded. "Don't worry. I'll protect the three of you with my life. I won't let anyone on my team die" he said with an eye-smile.

"I wonder about that, Kakashi" Zabuza's voice sounded again, right before he appeared in between the three Genin. Kakashi reacted fast, charging at Zabuza, pushing him back. Zabuza was wide-eyed

"The fight begins now" Kakashi said, slashing at Zabuza with impressive speed. The missing-nin simply jumped back, dodging the slash. Before he had landed, Kakashi brought up three more kunai, casting them towards Zabuza. He dodged one, but the others hit their marks, on dead-center in the forehead, and two in the chest. Zabuza was standing still, before beginning to leak water.

That's when another figure appeared behind with a slashing motion. "Sensei, watch out! Behind you!" Sakura yelled, but too late. Kakashi was cut in half. The time seemed to slow down for the Genin, before what they had thought to be Kakashi to burst into water.

Zabuza looked wide eyed. 'He copied my jutsu!? I didn't even see him make the hand signs!'

Kakashi appeared behind Zabuza, holding up a Kunai close to his throat. Zabuza sliced his sword towards Kakashi, who quickly blocked with his kunai. He hadn't expected the force though, and was forced out on the lake. Zabuza was close behind, standing a couple of meters away facing his opponent.

"I must say, you live up to your nickname, Copy Ninja Kakashi. I am impressed; and I'm not easily impressed" Zabuza voiced. "But now we're in my element" he started making hand signs. Kakashi did the same signs at the exact same moment. When they were through with the signs, both of them yelled "Suiton: Suiryudan no Jutsu" two great dragons shaped out of water morphed out of the waters, heading for the other. They collided with great force that caused a shockwave. The two Jounin guarded themselves.

Zabuza looked in shock at his opponent 'how did he do that? He didn't simply copy my jutsu; he used it the exact same time! Could he be…?'

"Reading my mind?" it came from Kakashi.

Zabuza looked even more shocked than more, but quickly reined it in. "I don't know what you did, but it ends here."

Zabuza charged again, closing in, forcing the two shinobi to use Taijutsu. Zabuza sliced at his opponent, but Kakashi blocked with his kunai. Zabuza frowned, putting more force into it. He won the struggle, forcing Kakashi underwater.

Kakashi quickly swam to the surface again. 'What the matter with this water? It's so heavy!' He thought while climbing up on the surface again.

Zabuza grinned at that "I'm afraid you've fallen into my trap Kakashi". He appeared behind the half submerged Kakashi and went through some hand signs again "Suiro no Jutsu."

Kakashi looked back at Zabuza who were standing with a hand extended towards him. 'Shit!'

The water quickly formed a sphere around him and Zabuza's hand. 'I thought I could use the water as cover, but it turned out to be a mistake on my part' Kakashi thought, while trying to think of a way to get out of the water-prison.

Zabuza laughed "I told you this was my element. You give me a hard time when you're moving, but now that won't be a problem." He looked over at Tazuna and team 7 "Now then, Kakashi, I'm going to finish you off later. First, I'm going to get rid of them". He made a hand sign "Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu" a water clone appeared.

Back at Tazuna Team 7 was starring wide-eyed in fear. Kakashi had been captured! They were all trying to figure a way out of this mess. They knew they couldn't handle an Jounin level ninja. Their only chance was to find a way to release Kakashi from the water prison.

Naruto leaned towards Sasuke "Try do distract him, I have a plan that may work". Sasuke stared back at his teammate for a moment, before nodding.

Sasuke faced the water clone again. He began casting a barrage of kunai and shuriken, but to no avail. The clone simply dodged and blocked them. Sasuke summoned a fuma shuriken, casting it, hoping it would buy him just a bit of time, and then went through the hand signs for his clans' Katon jutsu. He took a deep breath and breathed out a large fireball "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu". The clone was surprised that a Genin could use such an advanced jutsu, but again dodged it with ease. Sasuke was starting to pant slightly; the jutsu had taken a good portion of his chakra, and he hadn't recovered fully from the encounter with the Demon Brothers- "Dobe, I hope you're done soon. I can't hold him off much longer."

Naruto nodded "Hai, just give me a few more seconds Teme" he needed a lot of chakra for this jutsu. While he had monster reserves, it wasn't easy to summon a huge amount at once. "There" he made hand seals "Shoton: Kessho Gokakuro" the ground under the clone, and the water under Kakashi's water prison glowed brightly pink, before they were encased in crystal. Naruto concentrated and made the ram seal "funsai!" the clone shattered into a thousand pieces, and so did the prison, leaving Kakashi free, who jumped back to get clear of Zabuza's range. He was impressed with Naruto; 'he guessed it wasn't easy to crystallize some, but not all, of something like his water prison.'

Zabuza was shocked. He looked over at the blond Genin, who were looking intensely back at him. He turned to Kakashi and asked a simple question "How?"

Kakashi looked at Zabuza, and quickly glanced over at Shino, before making eye-contact again "The blond Genin on team. He possess Shoton"

A look of surprise spread across Zabuza's face 'Shoton!? I haven't even heard about it before now…' he looked at Naruto again.

Kakashi then turned serious once again "But now, this really must end".

Zabuza began making hand signs, Kakashi following. Just before Zabuza was done, Kakashi cried "Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu!"

Zabuza was wide eyed 'This time he didn't do it at the same time as me. He did it before me!' Water began encircling around Kakashi, before shooting towards Zabuza. There was too much to be able to dodge. He was slammed away by the great mass of water.

It slammed him through multiple trees, before pinning him to one. Before he could look around, three kunai flew towards him, impaling him in different spots. Kakashi jumped and stood on a branch of the tree, while the water resided. Zabuza was panting heavily now. The water had really roughed him up. He looked down on the ground "Can you… Can you see the future?" he asked Kakashi.

Said person looked down at him "Yeah. And I tell you what I can see." He brought up another kunai "You're going to die". He jumped down, and was just about to strike, when his senses told him to jump away. He did so, only to see three senbon needles hitting Zabuza in the neck. His eyes rolled back in the head, and his body fell to the ground lifeless.

Kakashi and team 7 were stunned. They looked back to where the senbon needles had come from. They saw boy, not much older than themselves, standing. He has a mask over his face "It was true. He did die".

Kakashi jumped over to where Zabuza's apparent body was, checking for any life signs. He didn't find any "he really is dead". He looked back at boy who had killed his opponent.

The boy bowed slightly "thank you very much. I was looking for a chance to kill Zabuza".

"That mask… If I remember correctly, you must be a hunter-nin from Kirigakure" Kakashi said.

The boy stood up straight again "You are well informed, Sharingan Kakashi". He paused for a moment before continuing "yes, I am a member of the pursuing shinobi unit that hunts missing-nin." Kakashi looked analyzing on the hunter-nin 'judging from his height and voice, he must not be that older than Sasuke and the others. Yet, he is a hunter-nin.' He looked over him again 'he's no ordinary kid.'

The hunter-nin shunshined over to Zabuza's corpse, taking its arm across his neck, effectively carrying it "Your battle ends here for now. I must go dispose of this corpse. It's a body filled with secrets. If you'll excuse me" he finished, then shunshined away.

Kakashi, looking at where the hunter-nin had been, pushed down his hitai-ate, covering his Sharingan again. He turned towards his team and Tazuna "Our mission hasn't ended yet. We need to escort Tazuna-san to his house" the Genin nodded.

Tazuna grinned "Sorry about that, everyone! Just rest at my house!" the shinobi just sweat dropped at Tazuna's carefree attitude.

'No more than two minutes ago was he close to dying, and there he is standing grinning' Sasuke thought. He sighed deeply.

"Ok, let's go everyone!" Kakashi said, stating to head down the road. He hadn't gone more than a few steps, when he collapsed.

His team was beside him quickly with Sakura examining him "he looks ok. I can't be sure though". She turned towards Tazuna "How long is there to your house?"

Tazuna looked down on Kakashi "It's just up the road. Shouldn't be more than half an hour away by now" Sakura nodded at that.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Kirigakure – Village hidden in the Mist: One of the five major shinobi villages.

Shoton: Suisho no Hashira – Crystal Release: Crystal Pillar: The user summons a big pink crystal pillar, which can shoot himself or opponents high up in the air. It can be attached or unattached to the ground. The size of the pillar is depending on the user's chakra and control.

Kessho Purizumu – Crystal Prism: A jutsu that has a variety of uses. This technique allows the user to focus chakra into the ground and three triangular walls of crystal shot up out of the ground and enclose around the target. The prism is large enough to enclose two or three average sized people if they are close together. The user can use it as a method of defense against assault from any angle or attempt to use the crystal walls to seal and trap any enemies inside the prism, making it a handy trick to trap any escaping ninja. Despite the red walls appearing glass thin, this jutsu is very resilient against Ninjutsu attacks, and it takes a lot of physical force to break through.

Shoton: Baningu Kosoku – Crystal Release: Burning Restraints: The user converts his chakra intro crystal, which forms chains. The chains can be loosed or tightened at the will of the user.

Sharingan - Literally meaning "Copy Wheel Eye" or "Mirror Wheel Eye": is a dojutsu Kekkai Genkai, which appears in some members of the Uchiha clan. The Sharingan is also called "Heaven's Eye" because of the many abilities it grants the user.

Kirigakure no Jutsu – Hiding in Mist Technique: This displacement technique is a specialty of the ninja from Kirigakure, where one causes a mist to spring forth by lifting up some water from either a pre-existing source or expelled from their mouth,[2] then goes in and out of sight at will from within the pearly-white realm. The mist's thickness is controlled by the amount of chakra kneaded into it.

Suiton: Suiryudan no Jutsu – Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique: This technique shapes a large amount of water into a giant, powerful dragon, which hits the opponent with formidable might, dealing physical damage. The ideal place to use it is near a body of water, but if the user's skill allows it, it is possible to use it even in a place where there is none. The amount of water used will be in proportion with the user's skill.

Suiro no Jutsu – Water Prison Technique: This technique is used to trap a victim inside a virtually inescapable sphere of water. The only downside to this technique is that the user must keep at least one arm inside the sphere at all times in order for the victim to remain imprisoned. This technique requires a sufficient amount of water, which can be provided by expelling it from one's mouth. Despite the fact that the prison is made up entirely out of water, it is stronger than steel. Once trapped the target is unable to move while within it due to the heaviness of the water. Because of the density of the water it can be used, to a limited extent, for defensive purposes if performed on oneself. It can also be stored in scrolls as traps.

Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu – Water Clone Technique: The Water Clone Technique is similar to the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu except it creates clones out of water that have one-tenth of the original person's power. Like other solid clone techniques, the clones can be used to perform tasks the user is unable or unwilling to do for themselves. The range of the clone is limited however, as it cannot travel very far from the original body without losing control. Like other clone techniques, if the water clones are injured enough they will revert back to normal water.

Shoton: Kessho Gokakuro – Crystal Release: Crystal Pentagonal Prison: The user completely encases her opponents in crystal. When the crystal is shattered, the bodies of the victims disintegrate along with the crystal particles.

Funsai – Shatter.

Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu – Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique: This technique extends water over a large scale, surges and rises up to several dozen meters high. Then it streams down to the ground in one big cascade, much like a gigantic waterfall. In doing so, it resembles a huge wave, with tremendous power that can hollow out the ground. What remains after that technique's utilization is reminiscent of no less than the aftermath of a natural disaster. This is a considerably advanced Ninjutsu, and activating this technique requires a fair amount of chakra.