Damn it, more writing time on this story…I've really gotta update Bushido no Jutsu. Anyway, enjoy this latest offering! I love this chapter so much, enjoy and review!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did, Lee would be the ruler of the world.

Chapter 6: Walking the Line

"Kakashi-sensei, when are we going to get to Wave Country?" asked an annoyed pink-haired girl. She was walking beside a boy with an oversized shirt and a blonde with a long ponytail. Their sensei, the famous Copy-nin Kakashi, was walking at the end of the procession. His team had just been given a C-Class mission by the Hokage after weeks of easy-going D-Class missions, which Kakashi loved. He could just sit around and read 'Icha Icha Paradise' while his charges did all the work, now he was forced to act responsible, he shivered at this implication.

"In a few hours, Sakura." the Jounin replied. The Uchiha was just as annoying in his own way. He might not be as whiny as the Haruno girl, but he was stuck-up. Their third member, the ever annoying Yamanaka Ino, was worse than both of the others put together. Always going off about Sasuke and getting into fights with Sakura. I never would have passed them if they didn't work so well together when push comes to shove. Of course, those two argue so much one might get the idea there was something a bit more than a friendship there…NO! Bad Kakashi! He shook the idea out of his head.

"Are you sure these brats are going to be able to protect me?" asked the old man between Kakashi and his students. Ah yes, his client the famous bridge builder. The foul-tempered Tazuna was all too keen on pointing out the short-comings of his team. Ino had almost pounded him flat the first day of travel.

"Well, they are Genin but I'm a Jounin, there shouldn't be that much of a problem that I can't deal with it." Kakashi said as he flipped the page in his book. The group was almost at the boarder of Wave Country; the sooner this mission was over, the sooner Kakashi could get back to doing D-Class missions and being lazy. A puddle caught his eye as he passed by it. Hmmm…odd, I don't remember it raining last night. As if on queue, the puddle erupted and two ninja wearing Hidden Mist hitai-ate appeared from it. What a bunch of armatures… Before the Genin's could do anything, twin chains wrapped around the oddly calm Jounin and ripped him apart.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Ino screamed. Sasuke was already on the attack nailing one of the ninja with a kick. His partner lashed out with his chain but missed the quick Genin. With a flick of a kunai, the Mist-nin's main weapons were stuck to a tree. They quickly cut the chains and lashed out at the bridge builder with their gauntlets. Sakura and Ino acted as a human shield in front of the elderly man. Just as they were about to hit, they were caught by the one and only Copy Kakashi.

"Well, that was interesting." he said as he tied up the unconscious nin. He turned around to be met with the confused and annoyed stares by his students; he shrugged and pulled out his perverted book. "…what? I used a body substitution jutsu; you didn't really think I'd get caught off-guard that easily, did you? Good work by the way, you all handled yourselves well." He then turned to Tazuna with an annoyed eye. "We need to talk…" The conversation went back and forth between the two men until a loud Ino yelled out something and Sakura took up the argument as well. The stoic Uchiha just shrugged and they all set off yet again. All of this was witnessed by two sets of eyes in the trees. The two figures were suppressing their chakra so the Jounin wouldn't notice them but as he was walking off he looked right at them but did nothing.

"Think he knows we're here?" Getting no response, the redhead poked her companion. "Hey, dumb bastard. Did you hear me?"

"Huh? Oh, probably. He is a Jounin, you know. Thing is, I know all of the people down there…" the boy said as he sighed. Of all the people, Sakura-chan and Sasuke had to be there.

"Really? You never talk about your old village, were they your old friends?" she asked. The white-haired boy blinked at her. What the hell? Tayuya actually saying something to me that didn't revolve around an insult…?

"Heh, will wonders never cease…" he mumbled as he pulled his trademark fox mask over his face.

"What was that?" Tayuya asked in an annoyed tone.

"Nothing, nothing. Shall we go meet up with Zabuza-san? He's got that nice little ambush planned on the boarder of Wave Country and they are almost there. I think we should alert him to the fact Kakashi is leading the guard force; don't you, Tayuya-chan?" the boy asked as he started to head through the trees.

Tayuya-chan?-! Where the hell did that come from? "Er, sure. He'll blow a gasket, that's for sure." she said as he followed. The target they were ghosting frowned under his mask. He knew someone else was there and by the way they acted they were a cut above the Mist-nin he had just disposed of. His team seemed to be blissfully ignorant of the extra eyes upon them.

"Hey, you guys should be more careful." he said nonchalantly. They all turned to him with questioning eyes…with the exception of Sasuke who tried to look disinterested and failed miserably. "Someone else was watching that fight. We'll probably be walking into an ambush of some sort, so stay close to Tazuna, don't leave a hole in your guard. Stay quiet from here on out too. I have a bad feeling about this…" Why do I get the feeling I know who that was watching us…

-------------

"So anyway, the Copy-nin Kakashi is leading the force protecting the target. He dealt with your two flunkies easily enough; even his Genin team could have taken them. One of them is an Uchiha, a very powerful ninja, you can't ignore them." reported the masked boy. He and Tayuya were reporting to their superior in this mission, Momochi Zabuza. The missing-nin's eye twitched a bit at the mention of Kakashi as did his second, Haku.

"Kakashi…the bingo book says a great deal about him, I think I can beat him though." the mist-nin stated as he leaned back against a tree. The group was in a clearing by the road the group was sure to use. In just a few moments they would all set out to ambush the group and deal with the bridge builder. "What do you think, Haku?"

"I don't know, Zabuza-san. He is quite famous and that kind of reputation is not without merit. Of course, one of the seven swordsmen of the mist is also not to be underestimated. It would be an interesting match at the very least. With our good…friends…I think we have enough of a force to deal with them." the boy said from behind his mask. Naruto found it a bit unsettling to look into the expression-less face and wondered if that was the feeling others got from looking at him in his fox mask.

"Well, we'll leave Kakashi to you since you seem to be so eager to fight him. Torajikku and me will deal with his Genin team, sound good?" asked Tayuya in an annoyed voice. Zabuza looked over at Haku and nodded. It was understood that outside of Hidden Sound Naruto would be addressed as Torajikku, his family name, to avoid anyone recognizing him.

"We'll attack first; you take care of the bridge builder while Kakashi is distracted. I assume you Sound-nin can take care of yourselves? Haku will be occupied analyzing my fight so don't expect help from him." Zabuza said with a superior tone. It annoyed the hell out of the two elite Sound-nin.

"We can take care of ourselves. You should be careful with Kakashi; he has some weird eye that can cancel jutsu's." Naruto said as he stood up. He waited for Tayuya to head off into the trees to start the attack before turning to go.

"Oh? You've heard of the Sharingan Eye he has? You're more thorough than I thought." the former mist-nin said. The masked boy shook his head.

"I know from personal experience. Tayuya and I have first-hand experience with that thing." Naruto said before leaping off after his teammate, leaving two confused missing-nin to figure out what he meant by that statement.

----------

"Everyone, get down!" Kakashi shouted. At the last moment he felt a surge of chakra from the woods behind him and he reacted. It was a good thing he did since a giant sword flew in the air where his teams' necks had been only a moment before.

"What the hell was that?-!" Sakura yelled from her spot on the ground. She looked up at where the sword had embedded itself in a tree and lost all color. There was a man standing on the sword glaring down at them. He leapt from his perch, grabbing the massive blade as he fell.

"Zabuza of the Mist…how nice of you to drop in. I knew I felt someone watching the fight earlier, didn't expect it to be you…" Kakashi said as he put a hand over his hitai-ate ready to pull it up." The demon of the Mists only laughed.

"You think too much of me, Kakashi. I've been waiting here for a good while for you." Zabuza said as he smirked at the Leaf-nin.

"Then who…?" Kakashi started.

"Oh, that would be us." Kakashi and the other Genin's whirled around to face the new voice. Standing directly in their line of retreat were two ninja with strange hitai-ate. A musical note? Guess they're from that new Hidden Village… One was wearing a familiar fox mask while the other was a redhead glaring at the old bridge builder. Sasuke pulled out a kunai and stood between Tazuna and the new enemies.

"Sensei, you take care of Zabuza and I'll deal with them." Sasuke said as he took up a stance. Ino and Sakura also pulled out various throwing weapons and formed up behind the raven-haired boy. Kakashi nodded and pulled up his hitai-ate, revealing the famous Sharingan. Much to Sasuke's ire, the fox-masked ninja shook his head and laughed.

"Sasuke-kun, there is no way you can beat us." the masked boy said. Sasuke, Sakura, and Ino were shocked. Sasuke glared at him. How does he know me?

"So…it's you." Kakashi said in a lazy tone, not taking his eyes off of Zabuza. "Good to see you again, hope you got stronger since our fight at Hidden Cloud." The three Genin's were just wrapping their minds around the revelation that their sensei seemed to know the two ninja standing before them.

"Oh, I did. I do have a war under my belt for experience, you know. Don't' think you'll get me with that Inner Decapitation skill again, Kakashi-san." the boy with the mask said happily. Sakura took a step forward seeing the fox mask the boy was wearing and the fact that he seemed to know Kakashi; that he was wearing a Sound hitai-ate around his waist wasn't registering to her.

"Hey, you're ANBU, right? Help us out here!" she asked of the masked boy. The redhead beside him looked between the two before doubling over with laughter.

"Ha! She thinks we're ANBU! Yeah, we're here to save you alright." she managed to get out between giggles. Naruto sighed and turned to Kakashi.

"Hey, Kakashi, does everyone in Konoha think all ninja that wear masks are ANBU?" the boy asked. Tayuya was just calming herself down at this point while the three Genin stared blankly at the pair.

"Well, that is an ANBU mask you're wearing. I agree though, they do need to drop that habit..." Kakashi said. Zabuza was blinking at the whole situation.

"How the hell do you know these guys, Torajikku?" the mist devil asked.

"Oh, Tayuya and me ran into Kakashi a few years ago on a mission. We fought, he put me in a hole, I got in a sneak attack, and he ran away…you know the drill." Naruto said as he waved his hand. Tayuya rolled her eyes.

"If it wasn't for me you would have died on that mission! I never got a word of thanks either, you ungrateful bastard." she accused.

"If I remember correctly, all you did was use a weak Genjutsu on him that he dispelled. Kidoumaru was the one who chased him off." the masked boy added. He flinched when Tayuya's hand went to her flute. "Of course, he was caught off-guard by your incredible jutsu! That must have been the reason Kidoumaru was able to get the drop on him!"

"Nope, that Genjutsu sucked." Kakashi said as his visible eye curved upwards, indicating a smile. By now Tayuya's seal was starting to glow and Naruto was about to jump out of his skin. Better change the subject before Tayuya destroys us all!

"Err…well; I think you guys know we're not ANBU by now, right? We are the elite ninja of Hidden Sound, guard to the Otokage; we're here to support Zabuza-san on his assassination mission. Our target is the bridge builder over there. If you leave now, we won't be forced to kill you." At the sudden change of tone, Kakashi steeled himself and turned to his team.

"Sasuke, Ino, Sakura; you three have to get out of here with Tazuna! Those two are beyond your capabilities!" Sasuke grunted. No way are these idiots better than me! He started to gather chakra then turned back to the konoichi.

"You two; look after Tazuna while I deal with them." he said as he leveled his kunai. Sakura looked hesitantly between Sasuke and the two sound-nin.

"Sasuke-kun, it's two against one, we should help!" she said. Naruto smirked at the scene. Ha, same ole Sakura-chan.

"You two will only slow me down; I can deal with these two idiots myself." Ino and Sakura looked at each other with a questioning, if not hurt, gaze. They sighed and backed away to guard the old man.

"Hah, that cocky bitch seems to think he can beat us, doesn't he?" Tayuya said to her teammate. Naruto shrugged and pointed his palm at the Uchiha.

"Sasuke-teme was always like that. I think I can put him down without killing him…don't know though. You want to use a Genjutsu when I get tired of him?" he asked. Tayuya shrugged.

"Go wild. I'll let you play for a bit." she said. Naruto smiled a foxy grin under his mask before firing his Air Cannon.

"Zankuuha!" The wave of air hit the Genin's with a force that sent the two girls flying. Sasuke only managed to stay where he was by digging his kunai into the ground. Rocks and dust cut at his face having been whipped up by the mini hurricane. Once the blast tapered out, Sasuke fingered the blood from one of his cuts.

"What the hell was that?-!" he growled. He stole a look back at Kakashi and Zabuza. The latter had been caught in the effects of the blast and had his sword ripped from his grasp by the winds. He caught the look at Kakashi's face and saw his left eye. The Sharingan! Why does Kakashi have it? Before he could think of it any longer, a kick from Naruto sent him flying and averted his attention back to the masked-nin.

"You should really keep your mind on the fight. Not very genius-like right now, are you, Sasuke-teme?" the boy said in a mocking tone. Sasuke glared at him and started doing hand seals.

"Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" The fireball rushed towards the white-haired boy and he just barley dodged. Behind him, Tayuya flinched. The Uchiha rushed in after his attack and started to fight with Taijutsu. Naruto and Sasuke proved to be equal as they danced around kicking and punching. The redhead sighed and started doing hand seals. Off to the side, Tazuna's bodyguards were having a little chat.

"How does that guy know Sasuke?" Ino whispered to her teammate. Sakura studied the two before shrugging.

"I have no idea. What I don't get is how they know Kakashi-sensei. If they really fought him and lived to talk about it, they must be really good. I've never heard of Hidden Sound, but if they are the elite guards of a Kage-Class ninja I don't want to have to fight them. That guy with the mask has a blood limit, I think. He didn't use any seals for that wind jutsu." the pink-haired konoichi answered back. Ino was watching the fight between Kakashi and Zabuza. The Mist-nin was using water clones to attack the copy-nin. The clones were easily dispatched, but Zabuza didn't seem to mind, in fact he was grinning. It was then Ino realized what was happening; Zabuza had switched places with one of his clones to catch Kakashi off-guard. The surprising strength the 'clone' used was enough to send the Leaf-nin into the nearby lake. Just as fast, he was caught.

"Suirou no Jutsu!" A orb of water surrounded the Sharingan user and he was trapped. Ino and Sakura were on the point of panicking. They looked over at the fight between Naruto and Sasuke and were shocked to see the Uchiha clawing madly at the air around him, screaming bloody murder.

"S-Sasuke-kun?" Sakura questioned. Kakashi immediately saw through the Genjutsu placed on him with the use of the Sharingan.

"It's a Genjutsu! That girl is holding him; Sakura, Ino, you two have got to get out of here with Tazuna!" Kakashi called from his prison. The two girls watched in horror as the fox-masked ninja approached them.

"Ino," Sakura whispered, "We've got to get Kakashi-sensei out of that jutsu so he can beat that masked kid. Use Shintenshin no Jutsu on Zabuza while I hold this guy off, ok?" Ino nodded. She started going through the hand seals as Sakura charged the white-haired boy. Dodging kunai strikes and punches, he didn't see what the girl had planned until it was too late.

"Shintenshin no Jutsu!" Ino's body went limp. Zabuza flinched then canceled his water prison jutsu to the surprise of the two Sound elites. Kakashi was now free and calmly walked over to the pair as Naruto and Sakura stopped fighting with the latter running over to the side of the soul-less body of Ino. Kakashi took a look back at Zabuza/Ino who was still standing on the bank of the lake. I only have a few minutes until Ino loses control over Zabuza…better get this over with.

"Sakura! Go with Sasuke and help get Ino's body out of here. I'll hold these two off. Miss, I suggest you cancel that jutsu you have on Sasuke." Kakashi ordered in a lazy-but-firm voice. Tayuya scowled and was on the verge of activating her cursed seal when Naruto waved her off.

"Fine, but let Zabuza go. If you don't…" Naruto let the threat hang. Kakashi shook his head.

"Once my team is gone, then Ino will release him." Kakashi countered. Time was running out for the Copy-nin, he could feel Ino's charka draining and knew she couldn't last much longer. Naruto looked back at the girl before nodding. Tayuya was about to say something when Naruto took off his mask and stared at her with a pleading look in his blue eyes. She sighed and released the Genjutsu. Sasuke, who until now had been flailing around like an idiot, blinked at his surroundings before shooting a glare at the redhead.

"You…" he hissed. He was about to charge the girl when Kakashi barked at him.

"Saskuke! Get Ino and Sakura, and then getTazuna out of here. I'll hold these guys off, understand?" Sasuke growled but complied. Gathering up the konoichi, the trio made their way down the road towards the main city of Wave Country. Once they were out of range, the jutsu on Zabuza broke down and he was granted control over his body once again.

"Now…what are we going to do? It's three vs. one now, not even you can deal with those odds." Naruto said in a matter-of-fact tone. Kakashi actually smirked and pulled his hitai-ate down over his eye. His chakra was almost gone and Zabuza recognized this. He retrieved his massive sword but was waved off by Naruto before he could cut the Leaf-nin in half.

"No, I think we'll let him live today." the boy said. Tayuya looked over at him with a confused expression.

"Why? We have our mission, dumb ass." she would have said more if Naruto hadn't have cut her off.

"Otokage-sama told us that the mission objective was up to us, right? Well, I want to have a decent vacation so I'm done chasing these losers. I think I'll whole up in a nice hotel and spend the week at the local hot springs! It's just the thing for us, don't you think?" the boy said with fake enthusiasm. Tayuya caught onto this and sighed.

"You just don't want to fight your old friends, right? How pathetic." she added with no hostility in her voice. They boy shrugged.

"I just owe them something for the few good memories I have there." he then turned to the copy-nin. "I won't have this debt hanging over my head again; see to it that you train your team better." Kakashi nodded and started off at a slow pace. Zabuza looked like he was about to blow a fuse. Naruto noticed this and tried to calm the man. "Eh, you lost to them once, Zabuza-san! You can use the time to train or something, they aren't going anywhere, right? Catch up to them on the bridge or…something." the tone the boy ended the sentence on wasn't lost on the missing-nin. He scowled and leapt off into the trees. Probably going to have a talk with Haku; Kakashi's going to have his hands full now.

"Hey, Naruto." The boy turned upon hearing his name. Kakashi was looking back at him from down the road. "…thanks." The masked boy snorted.

"I'm just doing this to clear my debt with my old village. Don't get any ideas about me helping you on this mission, if Zabuza kills you he kills you; you get no help from me, got it? Me and Tayuya will be enjoying our vacation, so don't bother us." he said in little more than a snarl. His frustration only increased when Kakashi's eye curved upwards into a smile as he turned to walk away. "…annoying bastard…" he mumbled. The redhead walked up beside him and unceremoniously bashed him in the back of his head with her instrument.

"YOU IDIOT! How the hell are you going to explain this to Otokage-sama! We had a mission, you know. Even if he was less-than-enthusiastic about completing it, it's still a bad mark on our reputation if they live." she huffed.

"Owie…Tayuya-chan, think! If this country gets rich again, what hidden village will they send missions to? Showing a bit of kindness today will make us a lot of money tomorrow." he justified; his companion was not convinced but she seemed to accept it for the sake of an argument.

"Tch, fine, but you owe me for this, though! You said we're on vacation and you are damn-well going to take me on one! Let's go find a nice hotel then we can shop! Oh! I want a nice dinner too! The hot springs would be good…" Tayuya rambled on as the pair walked towards the main city of Wave County. Naruto tried his best to tune out his companion, but as always, he was unsuccessful…

I like this chapter for some reason. Anyway, it's a short one because the next one will be fluff between Naruto and Tayuya. I love fluff even if I've never wrote it before! The next chapter will be delayed since I'll be working on the new chapter of Bushido no Jutsu, so don't expect an update for a few days, sorry! See you then! Also, what do you guys think of a Sakura/Ino pairing? I just want Sasuke to suffer by not having any fangirls; plus they seem to have some sort of bond other than friendship in the manga...lemme hear your thoughts.