Aiya, sorry about the wait. Ranma 1/2 called to me and I had to listen! To make this clear, I'm not abandoning my Naruto fics, I just had to write for Ranma since I got the urge to. I'm not the kind of writer that can sit down and make himself write something; it has to come to me and for a few weeks, the Ranma stuff was just 'on' for me, sorry to you guys who thought my Naruto stuff was dead. Anyway, Some have complained about the 'forced' relationship between Ino and Sakura in the last chapter. This chapter should clear that up a bit with a mostly Ino POV. Anyway; read, review, and enjoy this new chapter. I really think this one is the most dynamic one I've ever done in a fiction; especially with the beginning of the monster fight scene that lasts three whole chapters.

Disclaimer no Jutsu: I, like every other fanfic writer, do not own Naruto.

Chapter 9: Walking The Lightning's Edge

A down-trodden blonde walked along the streets of Wave Country. Most of the populous was poor and depressed so the new face didn't draw many eyes. Ino wandered aimlessly though the cold streets in the morning fog while the images that had occurred earlier in the day replayed in her mind.

'Ugh, what the hell happened back there?' Ino thought to herself as she stopped on one of the many bridges that connected the inner streets of the city. She slumped against the railing with a sigh and groaned when she saw her reflection.

'Damn, I look horrible...' The blonde was disheveled after her escape from her teammates; her eyes were red and puffy, there were twigs sticking out of her hair, and her long ponytail was threatening to come undone. 'Heh, what would Sasuke think if he saw me now?'

Ino shivered at the thought of the cold Uchiha. On the way into the city she started to agree with what Sakura had called her; she had acted like a bitch. 'Well, it's not like he was any better. Kuso, that guy is such a cold fish! It really wasn't any of his business what Sakura said to me...since when has he been nosy, though? I may have overreacted a bit but he really pushed me! I told him not to bother her...why did I do that? Why did I even care?'

Ino groaned and knocked her forehead against the wooden rail of the bridge. She knew she should get back soon but that would mean facing Sasuke...and Sakura.

Ino shifted to look out over the water. If there was anything to be said about Wave it was that it was beautiful. As she watched the water flowing past the bridge she started to remember...

"Ino-chan! Can you come out to play?" a young Sakura asked as she wandered around the Yamanaka family flower shop.

Ino smiled at her and skipped over to her friend. "Mom wants me to help her watch the shop today but you can stay here and help too if you want." Sakura smiled at her and bobbed her head to the affirmative. The two six-year-olds ran over to the counter where Ino's mother was ringing-up a customer's order of roses.

"So, what did you think of the new teacher at the academy?" Ino asked as they waited for her mother to get done with the customer. Sakura tilted her head in thought before smiling.

"He's really nice, not like our last teacher. He was even patient with Naruto...well, the first couple of times he interrupted class, anyway." Sakura giggled.

Ino moaned and shook her head. "That kid's so troublesome! He always stops class just to ask dumb questions he should have learned when he first started the academy; it's his own fault for not paying attention the first time."

Sakura nodded at every point her best friend made. It wasn't that she disliked Naruto, he was just...too much. So loud and confident even when he knew he didn't know something.

"Ino-chan, I need you to refill our stock on long-stemmed roses. Would you go get three dozen from the back and put them into the main display?" Ino's mother asked. The two girls turned around and Ino nodded.

"Sure, mom. Can Sakura help me today? Please...?" Ino tried her best to look nice and innocent with her eyes.

Her mother looked at the shy Haruno girl and smiled. "If Sakura-chan wants to then I'm fine with it." Ino and Sakura smiled at each other before running off to the back of the store with identical grins.

Ino shook herself out of her remembrance; times like that were impossible now since Sakura ended their friendship. The blond buried her face into her crossed arms as she wrenched her eyes closed to stop them from watering up.

"Gods, I miss those times..." she said quietly. "...why did things have to turn out like this? I miss her..."

"Ah, don't worry about it, Ino-chan. I'm sure whoever it is misses you too." the blonde konoichi quickly spun around to face whoever had infringed on her reminiscencing. She was met with the impassive face of a white fox mask she knew all too well...

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

'Damn that Ino!' Sakura thought as she sat at the top of her tree. Sakura would have thought that this would be a good chance to be with Sasuke alone but The amount of guilt she was feeling over Ino's departure was frustrating her to complete distraction. 'It's not my fault she acted like that. She just blew-up at Sasuke-kun for no reason! Well...I don't really know why she did it but it couldn't have been so bad that she would attack him like that. If Kakashi-sensei finds out about this she'll be in so much trouble...'

Sakura spared a glance at her raven-haired teammate. The genius ninja was about three-fourths of the way up his tree thanks to the tips Sakura had given him. 'Of course, he didn't even thank me for them...' Sakura thought sadly. The pink-haired konoichi had hopped she could strike up a conversation with the Uchiha once she gave him a few instructions on how to use his chakra more effectively but for some reason her mind rebelled against her and kept thinking about the way Ino had left. 'She looked so...'

"...betrayed..." Sakura finished her thought out loud. That was it, she figured; the emotions Ino showed before she ran off were burned into Sakura's mind. Anger, hurt, shock, betrayal, and something deeper that the pink-haired kunoichi couldn't even hope to comprehend.

"No...she won't be forgiving me for this anytime soon. It's her fault for putting me in that situation, though! It's...her fault...right?" she asked herself quietly.

"Sakura!" The kunoichi looked over the side of the tree limb she was sitting on. At the foot of the tree, Sasuke was looking up at her with a bored expression; even at that, Sakura's heart skipped a beat. "I'm finished with the exercise and I'm heading to the bridge to meet with Kakashi." he simply stated before walking off. Sakura pushed Ino out of her mind for the time being as she leapt down from the tree to keep pace with the Uchiha.

'At least he took the time to tell me he was leaving this time...' she thought with a bit of happiness as she jogged up to the quiet boy's side.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

"You..." Ino's danger sense kicked in full-force and she reached down to her kunai pouch. The masked figure let out a short chuckle before raising his hands in a warding gesture.

"Hey, calm down! I'm off the clock right now!" the masked ninja said with a bit of humor in his voice. Ino narrowed her eyes and leveled a kunai at him. The white-haired Oto-nin sighed and crossed his arms. "If I was going to attack you do you thing I would have alerted you to my presence? I mean, you've already seen what I can do, do you think you're enough to beat me?"

Ino scowled but lowered her kunai a bit. "What do you want...and how did you know my name?" Ino asked. That seemed to catch the young nin off-guard and he shifted his weight uneasily from one foot to another.

"Um...well..." he started to stumble over his words.

"Torajikku! What the hell are you doing over there?" a familiar redhead yelled from the other side of the bridge but she didn't come over. From where she was standing the masked nin was blocking her view of Ino.

"Nothing! You two head on over to the hot springs without me for a bit, I have some business to take care of!" 'Torajikku' shouted back with a strange wave. A million things were now running though Ino's mind; just what the hell was going on?

The redhead looked at her other companion, a girl with long black hair, and nodded slowly. The two continued their trek down the streets leaving the white-haired boy alone with the blonde.

"So...what do you want from me?" Ino asked in a more subdued voice. The masked boy shrugged and leaned down on the wooden rail much like Ino had been doing.

"I don't know. You just looked like you were having a hard time." the boy responded.

Ino snorted and leaned her back against the railing a bit further down the bridge still holding her kunai at her side. "What do you care? You just got through trying to kill me a few hours ago and now you want to be nice? I'll bet you just want me to tell you about my team to get inside information."

"Nah, I already know more about you three than you know, Ino-chan; I do my homework before missions." the boy scoffed. Ino shot him a sidelong glance before turning back to the water.

"Why do you care if I'm having a hard time with something? You don't know me so how do you know I'm not just an angst-heavy person that likes to brood?" Ino inquired.

Torajikku leveled a stare at her from behind his mask. "Because you're not an Uchiha."

Ino tried not to laugh but she couldn't help it. The boy joined in on the laughter for a few moments of humor; it went a long way to breaking the tension.

"Yeah...hehe, only Sasuke would waste a good day like this brooding for no reason." Ino gasped though giggles.

"So, you have a good reason to brood? Something to do with a person you miss?" the Oto-nin guessed.

That stopped Ino dead. She turned to the remarkably-insightful boy and scowled. "Something like that. I just...screwed up a bit today."

Torajikku turned to her as if he was going to say something but stopped himself short. After a few moments he scratched the back of his head but apparently decided to continue. "You...and Sakura-chan got into a fight didn't you?"

Ino tensed noticeably before slumping her shoulders. "Y-yeah...how did you know that?"

"Like I said, I do my homework. I know you two grew-up together and were best friends throughout the Konoha Ninja Academy until something happened and you became enemies or maybe rivals so it would be hard not to guess something like that happened." the boy stated in a low voice.

Ino's mouth was hanging open by this time and she again spun around on the boy with her kunai leveled. "N-no way you know all that from 'doing your homework.' Who the hell are you?-!"

If the Oto-nin was threatened by her sudden change he didn't show it and instead turned his back to the girl. "Ino-chan...sometimes we hurt the people we care about by not being sympathetic to their needs and desires. Times like that are what test the bonds of friendship...and love. I know that because my village...my old home...did it to me once."

Ino shook her head and took a combat stance. By this time most of the passersby's had gotten off the bridge having been used to fights since Gatou set up base in their city. "W-w-who are you...were you...?"

Ino couldn't get out the rest of her question as she found herself unable to breath. Her kunai clattered to the wooden boards of the bridge as she held her throat. Her eyes widened in alarm as the Oto-nin turned around to face her with his hands holding a jutsu seal.

"Sorry, Ino-chan...a shinobi is never off the clock." that was the last thing Ino heard before her world went black...

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Naruto's eyes behind his mask were impassive as he watched the blonde girl fall to the ground. He released the jutsu and walked over to her to check her pulse.

"Whew, that was close. Man, that jutsu really takes it out of me..." the boy said as he felt the familiar pumping of blood under the Leaf-nin's skin. He turned his head slightly as two figures appeared behind him.

"Is she...?" Tayuya asked as she walked over to look at the unconscious Ino. Naruto shook his head and gently picked up the girl in his arms as Tayuya frowned at the treatment.

"Nah, she's just out-cold. I'm going to go drop her off in the woods or something." Naruto said as he started to walk off.

"Then what?" Tayuya asked in a gruff voice; she was really starting to regret following Naruto's hand sign to watch him when he waved, it would have been less of a hastle for her.

Naruto stopped and looked over his shoulder at the smoldering Tayuya. "After that...we complete our mission. Haku, tell Zabuza-san to meet us at the bridge in thirty minutes." he said before he walked off into the crowd of people.

"Finally...Torajikku-kun is ready to strike! I must go inform Zabuza-san about this development at once." Haku asked from behind Tayuya.

The redhead breathed deeply and turned. "Do that." she said before walking to opposite way, towards the bridge. Haku bowed and disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

"Naruto...I hope you know what you're doing..." Tayuya mumbled to herself as she faded-out of sight.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

"Kakashi-san, do you really think you should be reading a...'book'...at a time like this?"

Kakashi raised his eye from his precious Icha-Icha Paradise and regarded the old bridge-builder. "What? I doubt anyone will attack you anytime soon so rest easy. My students should get here soon so then you'll have even less to worry about, Tazuna-san."

The old man nodded but still shot a look around as if ninja were going to jump out at any moment to attack him. The Jounin was still sure that Naruto wouldn't attack them again...of course, the events that lead to him leaving Konoha were anything but friendly. He had been in ANBU at the time of Naruto's 'death' and still had access to the case files. Even though a mob was attributed to the boy disappearing, a few people reported a Konoha-nin saving the boy. Most in ANBU thought the crowd was just trying to stick together but if someone did save the boy all those years ago, they could have warped his mind...especially if it was another hidden village that wanted the Kyuubi; they would feed him any information that would make him hate his old home.

"Kakashi-sensei!" The Jounin was brought out of his thoughts by his pink-haired student running up to him; Sasuke following in a more sedate pace behind her.

Kakashi put his 'book' away; Sakura would never let him hear the end of if she saw him reading it on the job. "Ah, there you two are. Already done with the tree-climbing training?"

"Hai, Sasuke-kun and I got done with it a few minutes ago and came right here." Sakura informed the Jounin. She scanned the bridge a bit before knitting her forehead in frustration. "Ino's not here?"

"Uh...I thought she was with you two. She didn't complete the training yet?" Kakashi asked. Sakura grew quiet and shook her head.

"We...kinda got into a fight and she ran off. I hope she's alright..." Sakura trailed off. Kakashi was about to say something until a light mist started to roll in. The construction crews started to whisper to each other as Tazuna ran back over to Kakashi and his two Genin's.

"Tazuna, get your people out of here." ordered the Jounin as he pulled out a kunai. Sakura and Sasuke saw this and drew their weapons as well.

"W-what's going on? Why are you all getting out weapons...?" Tazuna asked in a small voice. He didn't like the way this was looking; the two children were scanning the area but the older Jounin was staring strait into the thickest part of the mist.

"Zabuza..." Kakashi muttered. The two Genin's stiffened at the name of the famous swordsman and Tazuna's color drained out of his face.

"Ah...it's good that you remember me, Kakashi-san." All eyes turned towards the voice as two shadowy outlines appeared from the fog. The workers were running for their lives as Zabuza's bandaged face came into view. Kubikiri Houcho, the massive zanbatou the missing-nin employs, was clearly visible in the morning light. Haku, wearing his hunter-nin mask, walks silently behind his master.

Kakashi tensed; two enemies were reviled but where were the Oto-nin? Could he have been right about Naruto's change of heart?

"Ah, it seems I got here a little late." Kakashi let out a sigh and looked behind him. The redheaded girl from the first fight was blocking the other side of the bridge; Team Seven and Tazuna were now trapped.

"So...where's your partner?" Kakashi asked while he shifted his attention back to the Demon of the Mist. He silently communicated to Sakura, who was still standing by him, to watch the girl.

Tayuya scowled. Truthfully, she didn't know where Naruto was. The idiot was supposed to be back ten minutes ago but he still hadn't shown up. Well, no reason to let them know the bastard was missing. "He's taking care of an annoying blonde at the moment. Don't worry you one-eyed freak, he's been looking forward to a match with you."

Sakura stiffened. "Blonde? You, what have you done with Ino!" she shouted.

Tayuya smirked back and pulled out her flute in a majestic twirl. "Well, we took care of her before we came to get you. She was so dumb, just sitting out in the middle of the city bawling her eyes out. She acted like someone had killed her pet or something." the redhead taunted.

Sakura shrunk back at that, her face gone ashen. 'It's my fault...they got Ino because I ran her off!' Setting her stance she leveled a kunai at the Oto kunoichi as tears threatened to fall.

"If you hurt one hair on her head...I'll peel your skin off." Kakashi and Sasuke turned to look at the dead-serious kunoichi. Even Tayuya could see she was serious this time. Sakura was about to rush the girl when Kakashi put his hand on her shoulder.

"Sakura, I know they wouldn't kill Ino." Sakura looked up into the impassive eye of her teacher and relaxed a bit. The Jounin smiled and turned to the girl; he really didn't know if Naruto would kill her or not. "Since your partner isn't here yet, why don't you have a match with Sasu-"

"Me! Have a match with me." Kakashi sighed and looked down at the resolute face of Sakura. He was about to say something when the redhead started to laugh.

"Y-you? That's a joke, right? The only person here that even has a chance of beating me is the Jounin. Here...lemme show you what I mean." Tayuya's plan was to knock them off-guard in the first few moments of the fight. The lighting mark on the back of her neck started to flare to life as the black tattoos snaked around her body in a jagged pattern. Her chakra surged to the level of a mid-Chuunin in an instant and all the ninja present, even Zabuza and Haku, were stunned.

"H-h-h-how did she do that?" Sasuke croaked out. Kakashi's eye narrowed as he pulled up his hitai-ate exposing the Sharingan.

"So...you have a cursed seal? That means your partner would have one as well. Interesting...but how long can you sustain that chakra output? You know I'm still much stronger than you are." Kakashi mused.

The redhead smirked and shrugged. "That is all true; it's a good thing I won't be the one fighting you. Zabuza! Take care of scar-face and I'll deal with his brats."

Zabuza nodded and heaved Kubikiri Houcho from his back. "Haku, this is my fight so stay out of it...understand?"

The masked ninja nodded and took a step back. "Hai, Zabuza-san."

"You know, I'm honored to have seen the infamous Sharingan twice, Kakashi. Maybe once this is all over I'll cut it from your skull for a souvenir." Zabuza sneered.

Kakashi looked back at the advancing Tayuya. "Sasuke, you watch the Oto-nin while I deal with Zabuza; Sakura, you help Sasuke."

The Uchiha smirked; this was the fight he wanted. The redhead had embarrassed him during their last fight and now it was time to return the favor.

"Heh, you guys think it will be that easy? You have no idea what I can do in this form!" Tayuya shouted. "Makyo no Ran!"

The soft melody flowed from the Oto-nin's flute and enveloped the entire bridge. Sasuke sneered at the girl and tried to take a step forward only to find wires holding up his body.

"What is this!-?" he shouted as the melody grew louder. Kakashi and Zabuza had both used a Genjutsu cancel the moment they heard the music.

"Heh, seems the girl outclasses your students." Zabuza mused as he quickly closed the distance between him and the copy-nin. His massive sword swung down in a high arc that the Konoha Jounin barely had time to dodge. Kakashi closed his right eye to use the full-force of the Sharingan; he couldn't afford to watch his students in this fight...

"Kai!" Sakura had the presence of mind to cancel the Genjutsu before the effects overtook her. Unfortunately, Sasuke didn't have that opportunity as he was now screaming out in pain.

Inside his mind, Sasuke was hanging over a den of bones held up by strings. He franticly fought at his illusionary bonds even as his hand started to melt.

"I refuse...to die...I have to stop...him..." Sasuke growled though clenched teeth. Just as he was about to submit to the pain, the Genjutsu evaporated around him and he could see Tayuya playing her flute off in the distance. The Uchiha prodigy blinked a few times and gasped; he could the redhead like he was standing next to him. Still a bit in shock, Sasuke reached down and grabbed the kunai he had dropped when the Genjutsu hit him. With a flick of his wrist, the weapon went sailing dead-on towards the Oto-nin.

"The hell?-!" Tayuya yelled as she heard the displacement of air around the weapon. The narrowly dodged the kunai as she performed a graceful summersault off to the side. "So...got out of that Genjutsu? Damn bastard!"

Sasuke paid her insults no mind as he looked over at Sakura. The pink-haired girl felt his gaze and met his eyes only to gasp when she saw the red pupils and tiny comma marks that had appeared only moments before.

"Play time is over, trash." Tayuya gritted her teeth and bit her finger drawing a steady flow of blood. The redhead smirked as she slammed her hand down on the bridge. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

A massive cloud of smoke exploded into existence and even the two Jounin stopped their fight for a moment. Sasuke and Sakura braced themselves against the wind that was whipped-up from the summoning.

"Well...didn't know the kid would know a jutsu like that." Zabuza said with genuine surprise as he heaved his massive sword onto his shoulders. Kakashi sighed; he had to finish this quickly and help his students. The copy Jounin closed his right eye again to focus his Sharingan. Zabuza got the hit and dropped into a fighting stance of his own. All at once, the pair rushed at each other with Zabuza swinging the Kubikiri Houcho in a sweeping arc to cut off Kakashi's legs at the knees. However, with the aid of the Sharingan the copy-nin could see the path of the sword and instantly jumped above the blade. With a single fluid motion, the Konoha-nin flipped over the head of the Demon of the Mist and cracked the back of his skull with a well-aimed kick.

"Damn you!" Zabuza used his right hand as a brace as he fell. He could hear Kakashi pushing off the ground a few feet behind him but could do nothing as his left hand wasn't fast enough to block with his massive sword. At the last moment, a needle embedded itself into Kakashi's side causing him to miss his mark my a few inches. The kunai sunk into the missing-nin's right shoulder instead of his spine, saving the Demon.

Kakashi left the kunai where it was and tossed a shuriken at Haku. The masked nin countered with a senbon needle. Zabuza used the distraction to get back to his feet but his right arm was in bad shape due to the kunai stuck in his shoulder blade.

"Haku...I might need your help with this one after all..." the Mist Demon admitted. Haku nodded and moved to put Kakashi between the two of them in a pincer formation. Kakashi pulled out another kunai and measured up his opponents. Although he didn't like to kill younger nins he had no time to waste.

"Makyo Hyosho!" Haku started doing hand seals as the mist around him started to freeze and condense into sheets of ice. Zabuza smirked; Haku's bloodline was unbeatable.

"Raikiri!" Kakashi's right hand erupted into a pulsating light that threatened to blind all present. Kakashi spared a look at the Mist Demon before rushing at Haku. On impulse, Zabuza heaved his zanbatou and made to cut the sprinting Kakashi in half before he could reach his tool.

Haku looked up from his jutsu when the flash of light caught his eye. When the masked nin looked up, all he could see was the three-comma Sharingan glaring at him, causing his legs to lock up. All he could see was the spinning eye as Kakashi grew closer. Somewhere in the back of his mind Haku could see Zabuza running at Kakashi with his sword heaved to attack.

As Kakashi closed in on the thrust, Haku braced himself for the impact. With the sickening sound of human flesh being pierced, most of the battlefield turned to see what was going on. The smell of burning skin snapped Haku's eyes back open.

"Y...you..." Kakashi muttered, wide-eyed. Haku numbly looked down at his chest. No gapping wound, no arm thrust thought it. Just blood...so much blood. The genius nin followed the red trail up to where Kakashi's fingers were barley hovering over his robe; they acted as a path for the blood to flow and drip...Zabuza's blood.

"H-h-he's...my tool..." Zabuza half mumbled, half sighed, as he slid off Kakashi's arm and slumped into a heap at Haku's feet...

Bet you guys didn't see that one coming, neh? Next chapter: Naruto shows up with a guest and all hell breaks loose between Haku and Kakashi. How will Tayuya fair against Sasuke now that the Sharingan is activated? What will Sakura do to help, if she can? What will the Oto-nin do now that Zabuza is gone? Will I update in a more timely fashion? Come back next time for the answers to these questions and more on the next update! Thanks for reading.

Jutsu List!

Raikiri
Kakashi's only original jutsu. It is more powerful than the Chidori because the master is the one using it. Unlike the Chidori, it doesn't cause much noise. I come to the conclusion based on the Manga that makes no mention of the Raikiri making any bird noises when Kakashi uses it.

Makyo no Ran (War of Evil Men)
One of the melodies Tayuya plays on her demon flute. It causes anyone to hear it to be entranced in the Mateki: Mugen'onsa (Demonic Flute: Dream Sound Chain) jutsu.

Mateki: Mugen'onsa (Demonic Flute: Dream Sound Chain)
The recipient will feel like they are tied with numerous wires, restricting their movement. Then, their flesh will begin to melt away from their bones, causing great pain and horror to the person receiving the jutsu. The user must be playing the flute the entire time the Jutsu is being used.