Chapter 7 – Prelude to Battle
Author's Note: Hi guys, I'm really sorry about the fight scenes, I guess I'm still learning how to write them :) Sorry!
Disclaimer: Naruto and its characters do not belong to me
Previously on Secret Keeper: Team 7 have arrived in the village of Wave, after their first adventure out of the Village. Kakashi finally got round to starting their training, although it would have been nice to learn a jutsu or two?
When Naruto still hadn't returned the next morning, a concerned Sasuke decided to go look for him. Arriving at the same clearing they had been using yesterday, he was just in time to witness a girl, dressed in a pink kimono, wake his missing teammate. Deciding it was best not to reveal himself, Sasuke quietly retrieved a couple of kunai from his pouch, and settled down to watch.
The longer he watched the girl's interactions, the more suspicious he became. For one thing, she didn't move quite right, for all she looked like a girl. And, another thing, she almost seemed overly concerned about the blond, questioning him without appearing to be prying as they gathered herbs together.
Eventually, Sasuke had had enough.
"Oi, dobe!" he called as he entered the clearing.
"Teme!" Naruto replied without turning from his herb patch. "What's up?"
"Hnn." Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "I'm reaching the top today." he goaded.
Herbs instantly forgotten, Naruto smirked up at him.
"Not if I get there first, dattebayo!"
"In your dreams, dobe," Sasuke snorted, before taking off at a run.
"Hey teme, no head-starts!" Naruto yelled, racing after him.
The girl, forgotten, quietly gathered the last of her herbs and faded off into the trees.
By the time Sakura and Kakashi joined them, the boys had made considerable progress. Without breaking her stride, Sakura sped up into a run, and started on her own schedule. As he wasn't really needed, Kakashi settled down with his book.
When lunchtime came around, both boys had reached the top of their trees and joined Sakura's training schedule – just with less laps round the clearing. After a short, fulfilling meal of roasted fish and wild herbs, Kakashi called their Council to order.
"Right, first off, congratulations on mastering the first stage, a lot faster than most, too. I don't think we have time to progress up to second stage, or teach you water walking, so I'm going to create a training rota. Starting tomorrow, we will begin to accompany Tazuna-san. I will expect you to keep up your training too, however." Kakashi gave them all a stern look. "Tomorrow morning, Sakura and I will join Tazuna-san at the bridge, while Sasuke and Naruto can train. Then, after lunch, Sasuke will join us at the bridge, Sakura will have 'free time', and Naruto will continue training. Then, Naruto on the bridge next morning. Just to clarify, 'free time' does not mean you can simply relax and do nothing." Kakashi finished, the genin nodding in understanding, before returning to their trees.
The rest of the week past by quickly. Each day, Naruto (and Sasuke) returned to the clearing to train, before heading back to the house for breakfast. After which, Tazuna would head off to the bridge, along with Kakashi and whichever of the genin were on 'guard duty'. The others would either return to their clearing or help around the house.
At lunch, the shift changed, with the genin on afternoon duty often joining them for the meal and exchange of information – if any. The genin on morning shift would then disappear, off to take a quick break, before returning to the grind of training, which differed between genin.
Sakura favoured the schedule Kakashi had given her, desperately trying to increase her chakra levels, with a bit of target practice thrown in.
For Sasuke, it was back to his daily training he used during the Academy days, with the addition of the tree-running. While resting, he could normally be found either cleaning and/or sharpening his arsenal, or studying a kata scroll.
Naruto, on the other hand, rarely seemed to stop. If he wasn't on guard duty, he was helping Tsunami out round the house, or teaching her what several edible plants looked like (most of them were thought by the locals to have been little more than weeds), or otherwise providing food – usually as a training exercise.
In the evenings, Kakashi headed out, scouting the land, talking to the locals, hanging out at the few bars and pubs in the area. By the third day, he had pretty much narrowed down Gato's headquarters and had a rough idea of how many men he had.
Eventually, however, time ran out, as it was wont to do, and the week of grace was over. During breakfast, Kakashi explained the new changes for the day: Everyone was going with Tazuna to the bridge, and, due to what he'd found out during the past week, Naruto would create ten clones and leave them to guard Tsunami and her son. (The fact that Kakashi would be creating his own clones to raid Gato's hideout if an opportunity presented itself, wasn't mentioned.)
Breakfast finished, they headed off through the village, heading for the bridge, and potential danger. Half way tot eh bridge, however, Naruto paused mid-step.
"Bandits just attacked Tsunami." he reported, before turning and racing back.
Kakashi blinked, before nodding.
"Right, let's continue. Naru-chan'll sort the issue back at the house." he declared cheerfully.
Upon arriving at the bridge, they were shocked to find a dense mist surrounding the bridge – to the extent that they could barely see the edges of the bridge.
"My workers!" Tazuna gasped, spotting them laying around the wood piles.
"It's ok, they're just unconsciousness." Kakashi exclaimed, having hurried over to check.
No sooner had he declared the workers' status, than a sinister chuckle rang out through the mist.
"Hmm, let's see. Target, check. Copycat, check. Loud-mouthed Pinky, check. Broody with a love of pointy objects, check. Annoying Blondie, chec-Not present? Interesting," Zabuza mused as he materialised in front of them. "Blondie decide not to come with?"
Kakashi shrugged.
"There was a disturbance back at base, so I sent him to check it out. Not that you can talk, seeing as your little helper's not here either."
Zabuza tossed his head back in laughter.
"Oh, he's here, alright. That eye of yours won't work a second time, we've figured it out now." As he said this, a flurry of senbon came flying out of the mist, only to be deflected by Sasuke's shuriken.
"I see you have improved." The soft voice of the fake Hunter-Nin floated around them as the youth stepped out of the mist beside Zabuza.
Sasuke cocked an eyebrow.
"That's hard for you to tell, given I didn't really participate in the last battle."
"Indeed. Although, I admit to being eager to seeing just how good you are." The hunter-nin mused.
"Take him." Zabuza ordered, already eyeing up Team 7's sensei.
"Hai, Zabuza-sama."
"Sasuke," Kakashi nodded, beginning to gather his chakra.
Nodding, Sasuke leapt towards his opponent, kunai in hand.
After a while, it became clear they were at a stalemate. Sasuke and the hunter-nin were both fast and good at handling sharp, pointy weaponry, while Zabuza and Kakashi knew similar jutsus, with Kakashi just barely managing to stay away from Kubikiribocho. Unfortunately for Team 7, both pairs were moving too fast for Sakura, who was stuck at the back, guarding Tazuna from any stray hits.
This state of affairs couldn't continue. It had to happen eventually. Surprisingly, it wasn't Sasuke or the hunter-nin who messed up. It was Kakashi. Despite having the most experience in Team 7, the grey-haired sensei hadn't quite fully recovered, not to mention the constant chakra drain of the Sharingan. He began to slow slightly, movements not quite following through.
Seeing this, Zabuza grinned, before speeding up. Kubikiribocho swung through the air, heading straight for the grey-haired sensei of Team 7. Sensing victory, Zabuza started chuckling.
"Sensei!" Sakura screamed in horror, unable to do anything but watch as her sensei was moments away from getting chopped.
Even Sasuke and the hunter-nin had paused in their battle to watch in a kind of morbid fascination, gaze locked on the large sword's path.