Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor the fictional characters except my own. I do not own the pictures either, but I own the plot.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Finally, the team was able to go out. On their way to the Land of Waves, Naruto and Sakura talked with the bridge builder. It was quite interesting. Sakura found new information about the world outside of the village she lived in. She desired to learn more about the world. Outside of that village.
"I don't want to seem rude but may I ask why exactly you came to us? I mean, doesn't the village where you are from, give services for these kinds of matters?"
The man looked at the girl. Why was it important?
"Well, I see that you don't know this. How should you? Our village is too small to have ninjas like you. We don't have such a thing as ninjas. All of us are farmers," the man explained, and the girl nodded her head. Interesting.
They continued to talk while Sasuke and Kakashi didn't pay attention to the conversation at all. A few hours later, they walked past a puddle but something wasn't right. It hadn't rained since last week. Why was there a puddle?
Did they notice it too?
However, they continued their journey and kept walking. Suddenly two men sprang out of the blue and attacked their teacher. "Kakashi-sensei!" the girl called out but it was too late. The two men defeated their sensei and they were on their own now.
"Just three little brats and the one we are here for," said one of the men. "What are we supposed to do now?" Sakura asked her teammates. The answer was clear; fight. Naruto glanced towards the girl and nodded his head towards Tazuna and she nodded back. She had understood him.
The pinknette protected the man with her dear life. Her kunai in her hand as she looked at the two enemies. She wouldn't let these two out of her sight. Naruto turned to look at Sasuke as he made sure that Sakura was protecting their client.
He nodded towards the boy and attacked one of the men while Sasuke did the same. One of them could dodge the attack and get closer to Sakura. She was ready to attack the man. He attacked her and she blocked it. He was strong, of course, he was, but she wouldn't back down without a fight.
She almost did it. Almost. But luck wasn't on her side. The man was as cruel as men in this universe were allowed to be and attacked her from the back. She was facing her death. At least, that was what she thought.
She stood her ground while saying the final goodbyes but the attack never came. Instead, she was saved by Naruto who had pushed her including Tazuna aside. Sakura looked at him shocked but her expression was replaced with worry as she saw the cut on his arm.
"Move and protect Tazuna, Sakura. You can do it."
The girl closed her eyes before she opened them again. She stood up and was ready for every blow. Sasuke followed suit as he attacked the man.
They were trying their best as suddenly, Kakashi decided to help his Genin. The kids almost defeated the adults but it seemed like Kakashi didn't think the same.
"Kakashi-sensei! I thought they got you!" exclaimed the girl as she scolded her teacher. Why was he doing that? And if it's just a test then why did he decide to stop them now? They would have won if they had more time. If Kakashi didn't interfere with them.
"It's not important right now but what is, is that you mister, have to explain yourself. Why didn't you register this mission as a B-rank mission?" Kakashi questioned the man who paled. Tazuna sighed. It was now or never.
"The problem is the bridge. My village needs that bridge to get a money source. There is a man named Garo who collects all our money. We can't do anything about it and our Kage won't listen to us," explained the man.
"Who is Gato?"
"Gato is bad news."
"How do you know him Naruto?"
"I heard about him. He enslaves women and does unforgivable things to them. He steals and kills like he was someone allowed to kill. He is also fucking ugly. At least, that was something a woman said about him."
Sakura looked at Naruto horrified. He did unforgivable things to the women? It couldn't be... She knew it was.
"We cannot continue this mission. This is too dangerous for my students. They aren't ready," said Kakashi but just as Naruto was about to argue back, someone else spoke.
"I want to continue this mission."
Kakashi glanced at Sakura. Why would she want to continue to fight when she barely fought?
"Me too. I want to continue this mission."
Kakashi looked at Sasuke. He didn't need to look at Naruto to know that the boy wanted to say the same. Kakashi sighed and pulled out a scroll. "Fine, we will continue this mission. However, I will inform Lord Hokage about the changes."
And with that, the mission continued.
The five continued to walk along the path until they crossed a river. There, they saw a friend of Tazuna who invited them to sit inside the boat. They had to reach the village somehow and Kakashi didn't teach them how to walk on water yet. So, the boat it was.
Naruto sat next to Sakura while Tazuna sat in the middle of the boat. Kakashi and Sasuke were sitting at the back of the boat. None of them were losing focus. Not now where they could be openly attacked and not be able to hide.
The ride wasn't that long and they soon reached the other side of the river. They stepped out of the boat and continued walking. Suddenly, Naruto threw a kunai at a nearby bush. He heard something. The blonde walked closer till he saw what it was. Of course, he already knew what he had caught. He just wanted his teammates to figure out what was wrong.
"Naruto! Don't do that again! You scared me," scolded the girl but stopped the moment she saw the bunny. It was white. Why was it white?
Kakashi sensed something and began to shout.
"Duck!"
Sakura had pulled Tazuna with him as she ducked while Sasuke and Kakashi did it on their own. Only Naruto didn't duck. The sword coming in their direction was too high set. It would have harmed the other two but not him. It was kind of sad. Maybe being short wasn't as bad as he complained about.
"Eh?"
Naruto looked at the man who had aimed the sword towards him in the eyes. He recognized this man. He knew him. How could he not know him? After all, that happened. Naruto hasn't mistaken the man, has he? That man was-
"Zabuza Momonochi."
"Who is that?"
"Zabuza Momonochi is an A-rank missing-nin. He is in the bingo book," explained Kakashi. Sakura nodded again. This man was dangerous. Naruto didn't move. At least he didn't intend to get himself killed was Kakashi's thought.
"Go back. Protect Tazuna. I will handle Zabuza," the man demanded, and the children did as they were told. "I see. Copy cat Kakashi. It's nice to stand in front of you. However, it doesn't matter now. You aren't my target," said the man.
"It seemed like I cannot let you pass, Zabuza. My team and I have to protect that man over there and we will not back down until we finish this mission," replied Kakashi.
"I see how it is. Nonetheless, I cannot help you. If I want to get him I have to defeat you first. The children won't be any problem."
"Come on Zabuza."
"Why do they keep talking? It's like they were married."
"I'm on your side, Sakura-chan. It seems like you actually start a fight when one of them shouts a signal word."
"Hn."
Kakashi ignored the children as he lifted his headband which covered his eye. He revealed something Sasuke didn't have but something the duck-ass-looking boy knew of. It was the Sharingan. Sasuke wanted to shout at the man. He wanted to know where he got this eye. It wasn't his, obviously. But he didn't. Not now, at least.
The children were watching the fight carefully not losing focus of their surroundings. Kakashi and Zabuza were performing some complicated Jutsus. It was quite fast and three of them couldn't quite see all the signs.
But it didn't matter, did it?
It did.
Kakashi was prisoned in a cage of water. He wouldn't have been able to survive if it weren't for both Sasuke and Naruto who had pulled him out. Zabuza was almost defeated. He was hurt badly. Sakura saw that he was about to attack her comrades and moved quickly but it wasn't necessary.
A Hunter-nin appeared and knocked the man out. The said Hunter-nin thanked them for slowing down Zabuza and disappeared. Something wasn't right and Sakura knew it. But right now, she was busy helping the boys carry Kakashi towards Tazuna's home where they could rest.
"It's quite pathetic. An ex-Anbu losing to someone like Zabuza. Fucking pathetic."
"Don't say such things, Kurama."
Later, they finally arrived at Tazuna's house and were met by Tsunami. She was Tazuna's daughter.
"Oh my, please come inside," she said as she saw the kids, Kakashi, and her father. They entered while thanking her for her help. She helped them prepare Kakashi. They tried to heal him the best they could. Then, Kakashi was left alone in the room.
The kids went down and were met with a screaming child. "What are you doing here? Can't you see that you won't win against a man like Gato? All of you will die! He's too strong!" the child shouted while crying. Why was it crying?
"The one to judge would be us. We know what we are risking but real heroes are ready to sacrifice themselves for other people."
"Naruto is right. We chose to come here ourselves and we will win this. We know the risks but we will defeat that man. For the people who died because of him. We fight the Gato and defeat him for the women and men he mistreated."
"Hn."
"Don't cry. We won't lose."
The kid stopped crying and whipped the tears away. "But all of them died," the kid replied. "It's ok. We are different. I already told you that we will win against someone like Gato," Sakura calmed the child.
"I am so sorry about this. Inari's stepfather, my husband, died as he stood against Gato. That's why he believes that no one will be able to win against him. My husband was a hero in his eyes and we miss him a lot," Tsunami informed the children.
"Oh, I'm sorry that it happened. Still, we will win."
Naruto smiled after he heard Sakura talk. They cooked some food before they went to bed. Naruto, however, didn't go to bed. Instead, he walked back down to talk with Tsunami. "Hello, Naruto-kun. Long time no see. How have you been?"
"I've been fine. I appreciate it. What about you?"
"I've been fine. Do you know how shocked I was to see you with them? I bet my father was just as surprised as I was. Was he able to keep up the act?"
"I was surprised too. He was drinking though."
Tsunami sighed. That man was drinking again. She had known Naruto for a while now. The boy however wasn't alone the first time she met him. He was with another kid around his age. Tsunami remembered him. She liked him quite a lot.
"Naruto-nii-san, why didn't you tell me that you were coming over? I wouldn't have cried like a small child," pouted Inari as he hugged the boy. The blonde smiled and hugged him back.
"Thank you for pretending not to know me. You did a great job," answered Naruto. What was the reason for the act? It was to make sure that his teammates wouldn't get suspicious of him. They didn't know that he was a part of the Anbu team.
They didn't need to know it.
The three of them continued speaking until it was time to sleep. Inari and Tsunami disappeared into their rooms while Naruto stayed behind in the living room.
"Come on out, Sakura. I know that you are there."
The girl walked out of her hiding position. Sakura stood in front of Naruto with one question in mind.
"When did you meet them?"
"I can't reveal too much but I have been outside the village when I was younger. As I walked the world with the person I held dear, I met Tazuna, his daughter, and Inari. Inari was still a kid. Well, he was much younger than he was now," Naruto answered her truthfully. Sakura appreciated that Naruto had informed her.
"Why were you outside the village when you were younger? Wasn't it too early for you to leave the village? I mean even with an adult. Excuse me, but I don't want to offend you. You don't have the obligation to answer me anyway. You don't have to answer me. I apologize."
"No problem. I would like to tell you my reasons for that but I am not allowed to. At least not now. Maybe another time? Anyway, do you want to go somewhere with me tomorrow? I would like to introduce some friends of mine to you," the blonde replied.
The pinknette raised a brow but agreed nonetheless. After their small conversation, they both headed to bed. It was late and they needed to get out of bed early.
The morning arrived earlier than the two would have liked but they couldn't do anything about it. "Eat up. After that, we will go out and train. It's time for the three of you to learn new things. Otherwise, you won't be able to defeat Gato," Kakashi informed his students.
As instructed, the three Genin ate the food. "Kakashi-sensei. There's something I want to ask you," said the pinknette to her teacher who raised a brow in return. "What is it?" was his reply.
"You know, when you were still in the cage a Hunter-nin came and took out Zabuza Momonochi. But... Something was strange. Aren't Hunter-nins supposed to behead the person they are after the moment they defeat them?"
Kakashi nodded his head. Something was wrong with that scene. "They must be working together," answered Sasuke and he wasn't wrong. It wasn't logical. Why didn't they notice this before?
"We have a big problem then. Let's go and train. You need to get stronger to be able to defeat them."
And with that, the Genin headed outside to train. "What we will do now, is tree-walking. It may sound stupid but loo," said Kakashi before he walked up a tree. "See? I didn't use my hands. Go on and try it out."
The three children understood and nodded their heads. Sakura chose the tree which Kakashi walked on and set her foot on the tree. Slowly the girl positioned her other foot on the three and walked up the three. She didn't lose her focus as she walked until she saw a branch where the girl could stand.
Naruto was already used to this from his training outside of Konoha and walked the tree up like it was a normal pathway. Now it was Sasuke's turn to walk on a tree but the lad had problems managing his chakra. Kakashi was such a great teacher. Letting the students learn things on their own while he was busy re-reading a book he had read many times before.
As the pink-haired girl reached the branch, she was happy and celebrated. If Naruto was a normal kid with no training, then he would have struggled as much as Sasuke did. The blonde gave it a thought before he made a decision. The answer; help Sasuke.
With a goal set in mind, Naruto walked over to Sasuke and asked if the boy needed help but Sasuke ignored him. The blonde didn't give up and came up with a plan. It was simple. Just boost his ego.
So, he walked over to the tree the pink-haired girl was standing on and walked up to the tree. "Listen, Sakura. You want Sasuke to walk up that tree, right? Then do me a favor and walk over to Kakashi-sensei. Ask him if the key behind the tree-walking exercise is chakra manipulation and if he answers with yes, then tell him how you found out about it, ok? Act natural and speak loud and clear," the blonde explained his plan to the pinknette.
Sakura nodded her head. And to be honest, she didn't know why she was agreeing to that plan but the girl wanted to win against that disgusting man. What he did was unforgivable. Sakura jumped down and walked over to her teacher who was luckily sitting on a tree nearby Sasuke. She wouldn't have to be as loud as she thought she needed to be.
The pin-haired girl walked up the tree slowly to keep her act up. And as she finally reached her teacher, the girl sat on the branch and began to speak. Keep the act up. Be natural about it. "Ne, Kakashi-sensei. I think I figured out what the goal behind this exercise is," the girl began, and the man turned to look at her.
"And what do you think it is?"
Sakura smiled as she answered. "It's chakra manipulation. We learned it in the academy. It was one of my favorite topics. There's only one problem or rather a difficulty for some people. People with larger chakra reserves have more issues manipulating their chakra. In addition to that, clan people like the Hyuugas have to train harder to be able to manipulate it."
Kakashi was impressed. However, she wasn't finished talking and resumed talking.
"If you use too much chakra, you will destroy the tree, however, if you use too little chakra, you won't be able to climb up the tree. Due to the use of too little chakra, you won't be able to climb because it cannot hold your weight."
The raven-haired boy who listened to the one-sided conversation thought about using the piece of information he received. In the end, the raven decided to try it out. Regardless, it didn't work the first time he tried it but he wouldn't give up just yet. After a few more tries, he was finally able to master the exercise.
The silver-haired teacher noticed it but made no remark. Interesting. She did it on purpose. Sakura sure is a clever girl. And Sasuke, of course, was listening. He wouldn't accept direct help. However, was this the right thing to do? Should they continue to help each other indirectly? If they did, would they ever accept direct help? Probably not.
They tried it a few times more until they were sure they could control their chakra. It was early noon when they stopped training the tree-walking exercise. "Let's call it a day. If you want to train more, then do as you like if not, then rest well." And with that, Kakashi left.
Sasuke decided to train a bit longer. He needed to do it until it was perfect. He needed to make it to perfection to be able to conquer his older brother. Sakura remembered what her blonde teammates asked her yesterday and walked over to him.
"Ne, Naruto. What did you want to show me?"
The said blonde said nothing. He grabbed her hand and pulled her inside the forest they were in. They ended up in the heart of the forest. There were beautiful flowers and little bunnies. The forest clearing was beautiful.
As they walked towards it, they saw a person collecting some plants. As the mysterious person noticed the two kids sitting near them, they looked up and smiled. "Hello. What are you doing here all alone?" the person questioned the two kids. The blonde smiled at them before he spoke.
"I wanted to show her something."
The mysterious person only nodded their head. Sakura was curious about something and asked right away. "What are you doing here all alone if I may ask?" The person looked at the pinknette and told her that they were picking up some flowers to make medicine for a good friend of theirs. The pink-headed girl nodded her head and asked if they needed help.
Together, the three of them collected special flowers for the special medicine.
"Thank you."
"No problem miss."
The person laughed a bit. Sakura smiled back at the person and Naruto decided to speak. "Ne, Haku, can we see him?"
The pink-headed girl was confused. The blonde knew this woman? Haku stood up, looked at the blonde, then looked at the pinknette. In addition to that, Haku nodded. "Let's go. Oh, and I'm a boy." Sakura blushed as she released her mistake. On their way to the person the girl hadn't thought to know, she apologized several times only to receive a small chuckle from Haku and Naruto.
Haku looked left then right and as the sight was clear, he opened the door and invited the two kids inside the small hut. Sakura gasped as she saw the man lying on a futon. "What's going on?" the poor girl asked confused. However, the blonde didn't answer her and walked over to the man.
"Zabuza Momonochi."
"Naruto, please tell me. What is going on? Please, don't lie to me."
"Sakura. You recognized Haku's chakra but you were willing to accompany him. There's something about you that you are hiding and I want to find out about it. Something tells me to trust you. In return, I want your trust. This man over there, was my teacher when I was still a kid. Unbelievable but it is true. He taught me how to use a sword properly. He has my eternal gratitude. My knowledge of him tells me that he would never do such things. There must be some issues."
Sakura listened carefully. She knew that what Naruto had told her was true. The pinknette recognized Haku's chakra signature. In addition to that, she followed them until they met Zabuza. "What do you want to tell me, Naruto?"
"You know already know that. Trust your judgment a little more."
The pink-haired girl hesitated. She had a solution but she wasn't too sure about it. The girl took a deep breath before she voiced her mind. "I believe that Gato has another plan. I think he is manipulating them to do something. That man has blackmail material."
The blonde boy nodded his head. She was right. Zabuza and Haku would never do something like this just for money. "There's also something else I believe. You said that Gato was a stingy man. If he has so many men working for him, why would he need Missing-nins to complete his job? He doesn't plan on paying them. I think in addition to that information I got, that he wants their head. More heads, more money," the girl concluded, and Naruto was proud.
"You are right. I thought between the lines."
Why the two talked, Haku went over to Zabuza and treated his wounds. "We aren't allowed to tell Kakashi-sensei about this, right?" Sakura asked as she looked at Naruto. She was right yet again.
"We can't tell him that I know these two. They would be in danger. Here, I have a plan."
...
A week passed and Tazuna and the other bridge builder were almost ready with the bridge as suddenly Gato and a bunch of men appeared. "Tsk looks like the demon brothers and Zabuza were useless. But you won't be able to defeat my men," the man exclaimed as he walked closer to the bridge. Team 7 was ready. They knew what to do.
"Men, kill all of them but leave that girl. I have greater things for her. A twelve-year-old girl as cute as she is would fit in my collection. We will have some fun."
Sakura was shaken on the inside but didn't show it. She had to be strong. She needed to prove herself. Just as the men were about to attack, thousands of ice crystals were sent their way. A few swords were sent in that direction too. Gato was confused. What was going on?
Team 7 excluding two, was also confused. Where did the ice come from? The four of them stayed where they were and watched as Gato was killed by none other than Zabuza Momonochi himself. It was a sad sight. Too bad the man was ugly.
They disappeared without a trace. At that moment, women of all ages appeared with robes wrapped around them. They were traumatized. Sakura slowly walked to the women and assured them that they were safe now. Not Kakashi nor Sasuke knew where the women came from but the blonde and pinknette knew.
They stayed there for a few more days until it was time to go home. The children did fight against a few men who were sent towards them trying to kill them. It was traumatizing but it wasn't something neither Sasuke nor Naruto hadn't seen before. Something kept playing in Sasuke's head. Something he would never be able to forget.
As the team finally arrived home, they were met by another team.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thank you for reading! Don't forget to vote and comment if you like this story/chapter so far.
Total word count 4337