"This is your trial by fire."

Sasuke almost scoffed at his so-called sensei's words of challenge. Trial by fire? Nothing about this had been challenging so far, and Uchiha ate fire for breakfast. Supposedly the two enemies that he and Naruto had taken down were chunin from Kirigakure. But they were weak, if they could be so easily defeated by a couple of fresh genin from Konoha. Well, perhaps he wasn't giving those two enough credit. Something had happened during that fight, and Sasuke had felt it. As though something in the world just shifted into place. Despite the fact that he and Naruto had never really trained together outside of occasionally sparring back at the academy, they fought perfectly in sync. As though they had worked side by side for an entire lifetime. But that was something to think on later. If Kakashi was finally testing the team, perhaps a good showing would convince him to actually train them. So, he gave the best showing he could.

Sasuke held formation perfectly as they continued on their journey towards Wave. Even without any signs of danger, he remained vigilant. It was easy enough - he just had to pay attention to his senses and respond to anything out of the ordinary by quickly evaluating the situation. And when they all boarded a small rowboat that would carry them into their destination country, Sasuke listened carefully to Tazuna's story about how a businessman named Gato had taken control of the country and was hiring thugs to prevent this bridge from being completed.

The story painted a clear picture of what the mission truly was, and what Sasuke would have to do: protect Tazuna and the other workers so that they could build the bridge, which would likely involve taking down this Gato person. Well, that would give Sasuke an opportunity to explore this strange connection he felt with Naruto. Back in the academy, Naruto had seemed like a nobody, even despite what half of the village said about him. And yet on their first day as a team together, the blonde had bluntly offered to help Sasuke kill his older brother, as if it was the most normal thing in the world to offer. It made him feel less alone.

They were about half an hour away from Tazuna's home when Kakashi suddenly yelled to get down. A giant blade came hurtling through the air from behind, and Sasuke barely managed to duck below it in time. The blade lodged itself half-way into a tree trunk, becoming a platform for the one who threw it.

Sasuke smiled.

"Stay back, protect the client!" Kakashi ordered, and Sasuke's smile quickly turned into a frown. Finally, an actually powerful opponent turned up, and Kakashi had ordered him not to directly engage. Reluctantly, Sasuke took his position in a triangular defensive formation around Tazuna.

"Well, well. If it isn't the Demon of the Mist, Momochi Zabuza!" Kakashi said cheerily, taking his hands out of his pockets and reaching up to his face.

"And you must be Hatake Kakashi of the Sharingan, yes?" Zabuza responded in a low voice. "Sorry, but you'll have to hand over the old man now."

Sasuke froze. Kakashi… of the Sharingan? But that was impossible! The Sharingan was a genetic trait of the Uchiha clan, and the Uchiha clan alone. Did he somehow have Uchiha ancestry? But that was a question for later. Right now, Sasuke wanted nothing more than to try his hand against this formidable opponent and evaluate just how strong he had become so far, even if Kakashi had ordered him to focus on protecting Tazuna.

"Don't involve yourselves in the fight, just focus on protecting Tazuna," Kakashi ordered once again. Sasuke gritted his teeth in frustration. He couldn't disobey orders.

Zabuza crouched on his blade, preparing to pounce. "Let's not waste time talking. I've got a job to do, you've got a job to do, and we're just gonna have to see who comes out on top."

Naruto watched carefully, one hand fishing around in his poisons pouch just to make sure he knew exactly where everything was. At a moment's notice, he was ready to summon some clones and pass around poison weapons if need be. But for now, he didn't want to interfere. Naruto knew exactly who this powerful enemy was - Momochi Zabuza, the Demon of the Mist.

A couple weeks back, Naruto had pickpocketed an up-to-date Bingo Book from a chunin who had just returned from a patrol, weary enough that it would be easy pickings. The woman had been walking through the main gate reading the book, and it was easy enough for Naruto to follow her and take the book not long after she had stowed it away. He had figured that if he were to leave the village, it would be good to know what dangerous faces to look out for. And it seemed as though that had paid off.

Momochi Zabuza was listed as an 'A-Rank Missing Nin', having recently left Kirigakure for unknown reasons. He was known for his silent killing techniques as well as his mastery of the famous sword Kubikiribocho - the giant blade he wielded today. In reality, nobody on Team 7 but Kakashi would stand a chance against Zabuza. Naruto had seen the way Sasuke had gotten excited, and just hoped he wouldn't do anything stupid.

While Zabuza and Kakashi were facing off, Naruto got the opportunity to see a Sharingan in action. He had heard rumours that Kakashi possessed a single Sharingan eye, but didn't want to believe it until he saw it himself - after all, they were a kekkei genkai belonging to the Uchiha clan. But as Kakashi copied each of Zabuza's ninjutsu in real time, Naruto began forming questions in his head. Was it possible to transplant the eye of someone with a Sharingan? Was the same true for the Byakugan? Or did Kakashi have some Uchiha ancestry that had allowed him a single eye to form? Naruto doubted he would ever be given answers to any of those questions, but that wouldn't stop him from trying to find out on his own.

In the meantime, Naruto carefully watched the game of Water Clone tag that the two jonin were playing - they danced around, throwing off jutsu after jutsu and ultimately only destroying each others' clones. There was certainly an element of relief that came with Zabuza targeting Kakashi first, but if Kakashi were to fall… well, Naruto had come stocked up. All he needed was to land one blow, if it even came to that. The two jonin were completely even with each other for a while, matching jutsu after jutsu, clone after clone.

Until Zabuza sent a clone towards Tazuna and the genin trio.

That was all it took to create a lapse in Kakashi's focus. A lapse that proved pivotal for Zabuza, who surrounded Kakashi in a prison of water before he could react. A prison that he could not escape, a prison that fed no new oxygen to his lungs. Which meant Kakashi only had a few minutes to escape before he took permanent damage. At least, Naruto guessed it was only a few minutes - all he knew was the principle that the brain needed oxygen to function.

Naruto's first instinct: Make clones to defend, and clones to fight.

And so he did - an army of ten clones encircled Tazuna, each watchful and wary for any incoming strikes. Another ten popped up, ready to rush forward and try to get even one opening to release Kakashi. As long as he was still alive and uninjured, Kakashi was their best chance at survival. And Naruto's clones were the safest tool to achieve Kakashi's freedom.

So why was Sasuke the one rushing in to fight?

Why was he charging forward, going through the hand signs for a Katon jutsu, and trying to get in close? Why was he not giving up at all when several of Zabuza's water clones blocked his path, swinging clones of Kubikiribocho close enough to shave off bits of Sasuke's hair? Why didn't he even ask for help? When this was all over, if they made it out alive, Naruto was going to give Sasuke a fucking earful. But for now, Naruto had no choice but to lend Sasuke his aid.

The ten clones that were available for the offensive all flickered forwards, ready to deal with the clones that were converging in on Sasuke. The only jutsu they had available and trained up well enough to use here was a wind jutsu - the very same one that Naruto had tried to use in the official graduation exam to make up for his lack of ability to use the standard Clone jutsu. And it was not well suited to this scenario, but it would have to do.

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

Each of the clones blew out torrents of ripping winds towards the Water Clones, dispelling some of them and pushing the rest back. Sasuke had the sense and reaction time to leap up, letting the winds carry him straight over towards where the real Zabuza was detaining Kakashi.

The remaining Water Clones cut through all ten of Naruto's Shadow Clones with ease, which meant it was up to Sasuke now. Either Sasuke freed Kakashi and they might survive, or that was it.

Sasuke broke past the clones with a speed Naruto didn't even know he was capable of. Before any of them could react, Sasuke wove through a short sequence of hand signs and then spat a concentrated ball of fire at the orginal Zabuza. And his aim was absolutely perfect. It was just far enough away from the water prison that Kakashi wouldn't be boiled alive. And the only way Zabuza could escape harm was by releasing Kakashi and diving out of harm's way.

And with that, the true battle was renewed.

With Kakashi back in action, Zabuza had no choice but to direct his full attention back towards the Konoha jonin. And Kakashi wasn't going to make the same mistake again. It took him only three hand signs to produce a splitting arc of lightning that pierced through every single one of Zabuza's clones, whilst the true Zabuza defended cleanly with his blade.

And then Sasuke somehow took that as his cue to charge Zabuza, armed with a mere single kunai. Naruto cursed under his breath, and created three new clones. Their task was not to back up Sasuke. No, they were there to drag him away using whatever means necessary. A weak paralytic would do nicely for that.

Kakashi dove into Sasuke's side, slamming him out of the way. As he tumbled away from Zabuza, one of Naruto's clones nicked his arm with a poisoned kunai. The other two dragged him over towards Tazuna and Sakura, and Sasuke no longer had the strength to resist. Once Sasuke was safe, Naruto let out a breath he hadn't realised he was holding. They would talk about Sasuke's actions later, but for now they had to survive. And apparently, Sasuke's survival hinged on him not being able to do anything stupid.

But when Naruto was finally able to turn his attention back to Kakashi's fight, it was already over. Zabuza lay on the ground with a senbon sticking out of his neck, and a masked figure stood over his unconscious or dead body. The mask had the symbol for Kirigakure engraved into it, which indicated that this was likely one of Kiri's hunter nins. Zabuza was a missing nin, after all. The hunter nin slung Zabuza's now limp body over their shoulder and disappeared.

Moments later, Kakashi passed out from fatigue.

Trial by fire, huh? Naruto mused, wondering if Kakashi had expected the mission to become this dangerous or not.

It was a relief when Tazuna offered for Team 7 to stay in his home - the three genin knew how to set up camp while on missions, but they were in enemy territory now with their sensei unconscious, and shelter made their safety that much easier to maintain. Naruto and Sakura carried Kakashi's body carefully into the house, and Sasuke followed quietly behind, seething with anger. It was no surprise that he didn't like the way Naruto had pulled him out of the battle using actual poison, but it was a high stakes situation and that was the first solution that had come to Naruto's mind. He could deal with Sasuke being upset for a while. At least Sasuke was alive.

As soon as Kakashi had been laid down on a futon, Naruto grabbed Sasuke by the collar of his shirt and dragged the Uchiha boy outside and into the forest, Sakura's words of protest completely ignored. Once they had enough distance, Naruto let go of Sasuke and turned to face him, wearing the angriest expression he could muster.

"What the fuck was that?" Naruto yelled.

Sasuke looked taken aback. "I could ask you the exact same thing after the stunt you pulled on me! What's your problem, Naruto?"

"I'll tell you exactly what my problem is," Naruto snarled. "You were fucking stupid back there when we were supposed to be defending Tazuna!"

"Really?" Sasuke rolled his eyes. "What was I supposed to do? Let Kakashi get killed? We would have been next!"

"I could have done that! That's what my clones are for! Ignoring the fact that you did manage to free Kakashi, why the hell did you think it was a good idea to stay and provide 'backup'? You're a genin, for fuck's sake! There's no way you can match up to an A-Rank Missing Nin. You should have retreated as soon as Kakashi was free, but noooooo! You had to stay and fight."

Sasuke turned to face away from Naruto. "Why do you even care so much?"

"I only have two friends, and you're one of them. Is it so hard to imagine that I don't want you to die?"