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The Land of Waves - Part 2

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Just like Kakashi had predicted, they made it to the Land of Waves without further incidents. It seemed Kirigakure hadn't realised yet that their mission failed. Or at least the back-up hadn't arrived.

They had to take their last part of the journey by boat. It was still the only way to reach the island.

"You better not start working on that bridge again any time soon. They'll send more after you if they realise you are alive." Kakashi looked at the mist around them. It allowed them to enter the Land of Waves fairly unnoticed. Using anything but Gato's overpriced shipping company was illegal.

"Dammit!" Sasuke threw a burning leaf into the water.

Kakashi had given them the exercise to practice their elemental jutsu on leaves. Sasuke was supposed to make them wrinkle, just like the chakra paper had wrinkled when he infused his chakra. But every time he tried, the leaf caught fire.

Tazuna ignored the boy's complaints. "I can't just stop building that bridge. If I do, my country is doomed."

Sasuke threw another burning leaf out of the boat. Naruto warned him not to set the boat on fire, but Sasuke completely ignored him. "Are you sure that stupid paper was right, Kakashi? Maybe my affinity is just fire after all."

Kakashi wondered for a moment. "It's not surprising this exercise is harder for you than for the others." His eyes fell on Naho, who'd managed to set her paper on fire almost immediately, despite being from a civilian family. Civilian families taught their children nothing about chakra control and nature transformations. Sakura had taken longer, but she too could dampen her leaves if given time. "Your body is already used to transforming chakra into fire energy. It doesn't mean the paper was wrong. You'll just have to break old habits and learn something new."

"Why? I can just stick to fire style jutsu."

"Sure, you can. A Jounin is usually required to have mastered two elements at least. But if you don't care about that, just using fire style is enough. Also, you already know the basic fire style jutsu, which is all a Genin is required to know." Kakashi smiled at him. "Why not just stop practicing altogether since you are already so proficient?"

Sasuke grunted, but took another leaf to try again.

Naruto was awfully jealous. He was the only one who couldn't practice. It made him feel so left out, he even took some of the leaves and randomly infused chakra, hoping there might be any sorts of reaction that would tell him his element after all. But there was none. And working on controlling the ninetails chakra he also couldn't do because his teammates were around. So he just sat there and watched the burning leaves of his teammates.

They eventually arrived at a shore, not too far from the capital according to Tazuna. The mist was still so dense that Naruto and the others could barely see any land at all.

"Well, here we are," Kakashi said. He didn't get out of the boat.

"So am I getting some of my money refunded now that you guys are leaving early?"

"What?!" Naruto jumped out of the boat straight into water, getting his sandals all soaked. "You lied to us and I worked hard to even get you this far. And you are seriously asking for a refund?"

"I paid for you guys to accompany me back to my country and assist me with building the bridge." He held the copy of the mission contract up, pointing to the relevant parts. "I get there were some… unforeseen complications during our journey, but all you gotta do now is help me carry some bricks. If someone happens to come and murder me in front of your eyes, ya know, just stand by and watch. That's totally fine."

They all stared at him, speechless. "What a wicked old guy…" Sakura said, but she tried to keep her voice down. He was still their client after all.

"I will ask the Hokage for a refund. It's his decision." Kakashi looked back over the water. He could barely see anything, but there had to be someone from Konoha coming their way. At least another Chunin team should have been sent after Pakkun delivered his message.

"I'm willing to pay the additional amount once I got the money. For the B-rank, if you continue this mission."

"I can't stand you old guy." Naruto tried his best to wring the water out of his sandals. "But I don't want to abandon this mission! How will that look like on my mission record? Let's build this bridge!"

Kakashi scratched his head. If he thought worst case, then Gato definitely had the money to hire more high-ranked shinobi. He might even have to face another Jounin should they continue. But that was worst case. Realistically… Kirigakure had no idea yet their mission failed. And they wouldn't have reported back to Gato yet, and thus Gato wouldn't have hired more shinobi. There was no need. And realistically, there was back-up coming from Konoha. And there were the Anbu, who were sworn to protect at least one of his Genin with their lives.

"Alright, we will continue for now."

Everyone on his team was surprised at his answer, except for Naruto. He jumped into the air, excited this mission wasn't over yet.

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Their way to the village took them through a foggy swamp. They were walking on a wooden footpath, old and slippery. The water around them was of a greenish colour, and covered by so many plants that it almost looked like there was no water at all.

But the fog soon lightened as they got closer to the village. It was built half on land and half on water. Wooden platforms swam on the water surface, connected by little pendant bridges. It was enclosed by forest on the one side, and the ocean on the other.

Kakashi's Genin ran ahead, excited to see houses built on water. Only Sasuke stayed next to him.

"When you fought that Kiri shinobi, your left eye… How did you get the Sharingan? You are not an Uchiha."

Kakashi smiled. "It was a gift."

Naruto jumped up and down on the wobbling bridge, earning him more punches from Sakura.

Tazuna showed them to his house, inviting them to stay there during the mission. They would continue building the bridge the next day.

It was late into the night when Kakashi left the small room he shared with his students to get some fresh air. Sasuke was lying between Naruto and Sakura. Both were snuggling up to him. With the paper seals from Kagura on Naruto's belly, the boy felt confident enough to sleep in the same room as his teammates again. And Kakashi felt confident enough to leave them for just a moment.

The moonlight outside was so bright that he could see all the way to the unfinished bridge.

"You actually haven't visited me yet. I'm slightly disappointed."

Kakashi didn't have to turn around to know that it was the Anbu girl that appeared behind him.

Kagura stepped next to him. Her hair was of the same colour as the moon. Her face was covered by a fox mask. Despite being on active duty, she took it off.

"Sorry, I'm not really interested."

"What is it you're not really interested in exactly?" She moved her face in front of his, trying to get him to look at her. "Talking to me? Spending time together? A relationship? Sex? Or are you really just not interested in me as a person?"

"You are very direct." He glanced at her, at the smirk on her face. "And stupidly incautious. Do you always give seals to strangers that basically allow them to stalk you?"

She laughed. "No, I made an exception for you. I'd be honoured if Kakashi Hatake chose to stalk me. You are quite… intriguing. Maybe it's the mask. But I'm not going to lie, you are a pretty famous person in Konoha. And I have always been sort of a trophy huntress."

Kakashi barely looked at her. The situation felt awkward. This was no behaviour he expected from an Anbu member. "Is this all you are here for or is there actually something important you wanted to discuss?"

She looked like she suddenly remembered something. "Right, I was supposed to tell you that Komachi is rather pissed at you. I don't know if you know her, but… she's one of my partners and rather strict. I had to listen to her complaints all the way here because you chose to not cancel the mission."

"That's none of her concern."

"Well, she's convinced you are only doing this because you know we are close-by. But she wants you to know that we are not going to intervene in anything as long as Naruto is not in grave danger. You cannot take us into account when making decisions on a mission. We don't exist. We are mere shadows. Naruto's shadows."

Kakashi didn't say anything. He knew that well enough.

She leaned into him, pressing a kiss onto the side of his mask. "You better go back to Konoha fast and visit me."

Kagura vanished, leaving only Kakashi and a soft blow of air behind.

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The next days, team 7 helped Tazuna build a bridge. The faster they were done, the better. Naruto was not too satisfied dragging stones and planks around all day. He let everyone know that he wanted to meet those "stupid Kiri shinobi again to beat their asses".

"You shouldn't wish to get attacked by other shinobi, Naruto," Kakashi scolded him. "This is not a game."

A fireball flew over the water, before vanishing into the ocean. Naho and Sakura were practicing elemental jutsu during their break.

"What? How can you already spit fireballs?" Sakura yelled at her teammate. Her eyes were just as big as Naruto's, who couldn't help feeling more and more jealous.

Kakashi quietly observed his student's training. He didn't show it, but inside, he was even more surprised than Sakura and Naruto at Naho's fast progress. Because he knew well enough how difficult learning the first elemental jutsu was, and he'd never seen someone learn them this fast. She lacked the same drive as Naruto and Sasuke, and even Sakura. Yet she was weirdly talented.

"I told you, Kakashi-sensei! This is not fair, now Naho is really spitting fireballs and I don't even know my nature yet. Just because you couldn't even count to four." Naruto pouted and stood up.

"Where are you going?" Kakashi asked.

"Into the village to buy more lunch. Maybe I'll bring some for you guys too, but you can only hope I'm better at counting than you are."

Naruto left in an overly dramatic manner, kicking stones away that were in his path. But as soon as he was out of view of his teammates, he stopped, and his gaze dropped. So many dark thoughts and emotions occupied his head. He felt left behind, jealous, like a failure. And no matter how often he washed them away, they kept crawling back.

The village was small, a lot smaller than Konoha. But Naruto still managed to get lost.

He saw a young boy sitting in one of the smaller side streets, wearing torn clothes. His skin was dirty, and Naruto could count every bone in his body by just looking at him.

Naruto gave him the lunch he'd bought for himself and his team. The boy smiled at him, and more children showed themselves to Naruto. They had seen his good deed and expected something similar. But Naruto didn't have food for all of them.

He continued walking down the road, with empty pockets. He'd given every last penny away. But it was alright. He felt proud of himself, and the good he did excited him again.

"That was a nice gesture of you." A beautiful girl stood behind Naruto.

"Thank you." He was blushing. Maybe this girl was even cuter than Sakura and Naho.

She smiled at him. "How unfortunate that it really doesn't matter." She walked past him, leaving the conversation at that.

"Huh, what do you mean?" Naruto ran after her.

"They are going to die anyway. You giving them food and money today won't change that fact."

The girl seemed less attractive all of a sudden. "What the hell? Don't say that!" he yelled.

"Why? It's the truth. They have no one in this world to acknowledge their existence. They are not needed. Their existence doesn't matter. They will die eventually, and no one will mourn their deaths. It will be like they never existed."

It took a moment for Naruto to process everything he'd just heard. "Their existence does matter! Everyone's existence matters."

"What's the reason for your existence? Why are you walking this world?"

Naruto was a bit irritated. He didn't know where this conversation was going to. Or who this person even was. "Maybe… I'm like those children right now, and I don't have anyone who acknowledges my existence. But I'm going to change that. I'll become Hokage and make everyone recognise me!"

"So you don't have a precious person in your life right now?"

"A precious person?"

"A precious person you want to protect at all cost. That's when you can truly become strong."

Naruto thought of his teammates. They were the first people to come to mind.

"Yes, I know what you mean." He smiled. "Hey, can we meet again? You are a bit of a weird girl. But I like weird."

She smiled again. "I hope we don't meet again. But I think we will."

Naruto was confused again. Why did she not want to meet him? It seemed they got along well.

"Also," she added, "I'm a guy." Haku turned around and left.

Naruto stared after him for a long time. His brain refused to process the information he'd just received.

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Back at Tazuna's house, Kakashi summoned Pakkun again. There clearly was something wrong. Reinforcement should have arrived already, or at least Pakkun should have reported back.

The ninja dog looked at Kakashi with the same bored expression as always, and Kakashi looked back at him in a similar manner before asking about the message he'd delivered to the Hokage.

"Ah, yeah. The Hokage said there was no one available right now. He'll send Asuma's team as soon as they return from their mission."

"And why did you not return to tell me this?"

Pakkun looked out of the window. The ocean was in front of it. "Did you expect me to swim all the way after you?"

Kakashi sighed. It didn't matter anymore. Tomorrow the bridge would be finished. Tomorrow they could go home again.

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Kakashi didn't read Icha Icha the next day, not even during their break. A weird feeling had been accompanying him ever since he woke up, like a dog sensing an earthquake before the ground started shaking. So he carefully watched his Genin and Tazuna.

Sakura was giggling at something Sasuke said. He was glad to see her in high spirits after having been taken hostage. Not every shinobi could cope well with the immediate prospect of death. And the last exercise in the Forest of Death had him wonder whether Sakura was not too sensitive for the life of a shinobi after all.

An unusually thick mist formed around them again. But this was not like the mist in the swamps. It appeared too fast, out of nowhere. Kakashi immediately knew there was something wrong.

"Watch out!" was all he managed to shout at his students before a sword came flying at them. He threw himself at Tazuna to knock him to the ground.

Kakashi used a wind jutsu to lighten the fog. Another shinobi stood on the bridge, not too far from them, a big sword on his back. Kakashi recognised the face.

"Mh, if it isn't the rogue ninja from the Hidden Mist. Zabuza, right?" He put his hands back into his pocket, trying to sound as casual as usual. But this mission really had turned out the worst way possible. "I've seen your face in the bingo book quite a lot."

Naruto immediately grabbed some kunai and threw them at Zabuza. The rogue ninja didn't even dodge, just blocked them with his sword. Naruto dashed forward, ready to show everyone he wasn't scared at all, but Kakashi grabbed his collar and pulled him back.

"You are in the way. Stay back with the others."

"Why?" Naruto complained. "Let go, I can fight too!"

"You can't. He's on a totally different level from the guys the other day."

Kakashi again removed the headband from his left eye. This was an opponent he most likely would have to use the Sharingan against, even without being responsible for four Genin.

"And it seems like you are Kakashi of the Sharingan," Zabuza said. He seemed rather amused to meet Kakashi at such a place. "I never thought someone like you would be this guy's bodyguard."

"Get in the Manji battle formation," Kakashi called back to his team. "Protect Tazuna. Don't involve yourselves in the fight, do you hear me?" He wasn't sure if Naruto had understood his orders, or if he would choose to obey them, but there was no time to worry about that.

Kakashi stayed close to his team. Tazuna was the target after all. Zabuza would go for them first.

Sasuke, Sakura, Naruto and Naho stood in a circle around Tazuna. They all tried their best to spot the enemy, but he'd vanished.

They only noticed him again when he was already right next to them, ready to strike down one of them to get to Tazuna.

"He's coming straight for us," Sasuke realised, but too late. None of them had the speed to react.

Kakashi appeared between them and Zabuza even faster than him, and blocked the attack with a kunai. He kicked Zabuza backwards, away from his students.

"This is bad," Sasuke said. He could feel that his opponent was different from the others. Everything was different. "He'll kill all of us." His voice trembled.

Sasuke's fear spread like a wildfire among the four.

"You don't have to be scared. I'm not going to let anything happen to you." Kakashi looked at all his students. His heart ached at the thought that these kids might get hurt because he was too weak. Because he made the wrong decision. They had to live. "I'm not going to let my comrades die."

Kakashi and Zabuza were exchanging blows at a speed Naruto and the others would never be able to match. All they could do was to pray and watch, and hope Kakashi would be the one to prove victorious. If not, they all knew they were doomed. Dead.

Fortunately, Kakashi always seemed just one step ahead of Zabuza, outspeeding him.

"Seems like your teacher is not as much of a sleepyhead as he looks like." Tazuna stood in the middle of the four Genin, wishing he had his sake with him.

"Shut up," Sakura snapped at him. "This is all your fault to begin with."

Naruto wondered, was it Tazuna's fault? Or was it his? He'd decided to continue this mission. He'd wished for some enemies to fight.

Zabuza charged at them again. And again, Kakashi appeared between them to counter his attack, kicking him away.

But this time it was only a clone. Zabuza appeared behind Kakashi, swinging his sword at Naruto and Sasuke. There was no time for Kakashi to even grab a kunai. He rushed in front of them, and blocked the blade with his own arm.

Naho screamed. Kakashi turned around, summoning a Shadow Clone instantly.

Zabuza had summoned another clone, which grabbed Naho.

Kakashi's clone rushed to her, fighting the clone off. He knew he couldn't continue like this. Blocking for his students left him on the backfoot constantly, and he would run out of chakra soon if he summoned more clones.

But Zabuza's plan had already worked out. The short distraction Naho offered was enough for him to form the signs needed to produce a whole sphere of water around Kakashi, trapping him inside.

Zabuza laughed. "It looks like having weak students will be your downfall, Kakashi."

"Are you alright?" Sakura helped Naho up.

Naho's body was shaking. "I don't want to do this," she mumbled. Tears ran down her face. "I'm scared."

Sakura squeezed her hand and pulled her next to her again. "Don't worry, Kakashi-sensei will beat him up."

Naruto looked at the two girls. He himself was shaking, just like them. Then his eyes fell back on Kakashi, who was signalling them to run away. He couldn't speak, couldn't breathe. He was trapped in water.

Another Water Clone appeared from a puddle, while the real Zabuza was bound to the water prison to maintain it. "I will kill every one of those brats while you slowly drown. Watch and learn why only strong tools are worth keeping."

"If we run now, we might be able to get away. Clones can't travel too far away from their creator." Sakura grabbed Naho's hand again. Her body screamed at her to run. She expected the others to agree. Sasuke and Naho nodded, and even Tazuna. Everyone except for Naruto.

The words of that guy Naruto had met in the village popped back into his head. He didn't want his own words to just vanish like hot air. If there was ever a time to prove that he truly wanted to protect his friends with all that he had, it had to be now.

"Sasuke," Naruto called to him.

Sasuke was lost deep in thought, his eyes wide with fear. But he did look at Naruto.

"Let's protect Sakura and Naho," Naruto said. "We have to be strong to protect the people we care about, right? All we have to do is hit the clone and make it disappear."

Naruto's words clearly triggered something in Sasuke. He faintly smiled to himself before nodding at Naruto, and they both readied themselves to fight for each other with everything they had.

Kakashi again pointed at them to run away. But they'd been taught to never abandon their comrades. Even if there'd been a chance for them to escape, they couldn't leave their teacher behind.

Zabuza's clone dodged one attack after the other, until he finally managed to grab Sasuke's leg and threw him to the ground. He kicked his stomach, again and again.

Naruto summoned Shadow Clones to attack all at once. Three of them, the number he knew would be safe. But Zabuza's clone killed them before they could even land one hit.

The real one laughed at them. "You brats are no shinobi. You are just little kids playing around. None of you knows what it's like to be a true warrior, a killer. This is fun to watch."

Sasuke coughed. The clone pressed his foot onto his chest. He couldn't breathe. The pressure was too much. His vision started to blur, but he could still hear Naruto's voice, calling for him, and insulting the enemy. He could hear Naho sobbing. It was such a familiar sound. Sasuke was sure this was the end. They were too weak to even beat a clone. But at least he tried.

He closed his eyes for just a moment, trying to recover some vision at least. And when he opened his eyes again, the world around him was crystal clear. He looked straight into the clone's eyes, who stared back at him in disbelief.

"The hell's that?" Zabuza's clone said, unintentionally lowering the pressure on Sasuke's chest. "The Sharingan? Another one?"

Naruto too realised that their enemy was distracted for just a moment, and used it to charge head-on at him again, pushing him away from Sasuke.

"Sasuke, your eyes…" Sakura stared at him too.

Sasuke stood up again. He could feel something had changed, but wasn't sure what it was exactly. The reactions of the others told him that he'd finally awakened his family's bloodline. He had the Sharingan. But he had no idea how to use it.

Still there was an opening as Naruto was still struggling with the clone, unable to dispel it. Sasuke gathered chakra in his own hand and rushed to Naruto's side, pushing the chakra into the clone. That was enough to interrupt the jutsu and break it. The clone dissolved back into water.

The real Zabuza only scoffed. "I can still beat you guys with one hand only until your teacher drowned."

Naruto threw a kunai with an activated explosive tag attached to it at Zabuza's feet. The shinobi laughed this time and simply kicked the kunai away. It exploded away from him.

"Let's attack together," Naruto said to Sasuke. "We have to hurry."

Kakashi was running out of air in the water prison.

Sasuke nodded without a second of hesitation, and the two Genin charged at Zabuza. They threw themselves at him. Sasuke got kicked away immediately, Naruto grabbed by the jacket and thrown down at the ground.

Once Naruto hit the ground, he vanished into thin air. It had only been a Shadow Clone. The real Naruto appeared behind Zabuza and grabbed his arm. He bit into it until he drew blood. Zabuza tried to shake him off. His other hand reached for the boy so the jutsu would not break.

Sasuke saw, and stormed at him a second time as well.

"Brats!" Zabuza yelled as he decided to break the jutsu to grab his sword again and end the two Genin. Each of Naruto's teeth had left visible bite marks on his skin.

The water around Kakashi flashed to the ground. He took a few short breaths, before charging at Zabuza, who was the one now distracted with the two Genin. Zabuza swung his sword at Sasuke.

Lightning gathered around Kakashi's right hand, and the air was filled with the sounds of thousands of birds chirping.

Zabuta stopped his attack at the sound of the Chidori, knowing that he could not afford to not dodge that attack. But before he could fully avert his attention back to Kakashi again, both Naruto and Sasuke grabbed a leg each, holding him in place. The man had no problem shaking them off, sending them flying into the air. But it had been enough time for Kakashi to gain enough speed to make his attack undodgeable.

Right before Kakashi's hand reached Zabuza's flesh, the water around them changed. It froze solid, and within seconds, huge ice spikes formed in Kakashi's way. It was too late to dodge, so he had to use his Chidori on the spikes to not get impaled. They burst into thousand pieces of small ice crystals.

Naruto and Sasuke returned to Naho, Sakura and their client with scrapes and bruises.

A new shinobi stood in front of Zabuza now. He was wearing a mask.

"Ice Release?" Kakashi couldn't help a frown. The Chidori had been supposed to end this fight. He knew well enough that a shinobi able to use Ice Release, a combined nature, was at least Jounin level.

"You are late, Haku." Zabuza straightened himself. For a moment, he'd looked straight into death's face. "May I introduce Haku to you? You must envy me. Do your brats even know basic elemental jutsu yet?"

"And still these brats managed to break your jutsu and free me from your water prison. That bite looks rather painful." Kakashi smiled at both Naruto and Sasuke, telling them what a good job they did. "And congratulations, Sasuke." He looked into the boy's red eyes, wishing the Sharingan would make a difference in this fight. But someone talented enough to master a combined elemental jutsu like the Ice Release wasn't going to have problems with a newly awakened Sharingan.

"Kill those kids, Haku. And the bridge-builder." Zabuza watched Haku throw some ice needles at them half-heartedly. Sasuke managed to easily deflect them with his own shuriken. "What are you doing? I said kill them."

Haku nodded.

Zabuza involved Kakashi in yet another fight.

And suddenly all Kakashi could do was to watch a huge dome of ice build around his Genin and Haku. But he couldn't get to them. He had to kill Zabuza first.

A thick fog formed around him again, thicker than before. He could barely see his own hand anymore. If he couldn't end this fight now, his Genin were sure to die.

He wondered if Kagura watched them. If she would truly be able to watch his other students get killed before stepping in to save Naruto.