Chapter 11

Zabuza looked at the clones in front of him with some surprise. It wasn't every day that you witnessed a genin make so many Kage Bunshin (Shadow Clones) and not be winded. The way how the genin treated the situation was also something that surprised him. He didn't know who trained this boy but he was not thinking like a genin. He created two Mizu Bunshin (Water Clones) to deal with the clones. He watched as they attacked his Mizu Bunshin and was impressed with the kid. That's when he witnessed the black haired boy unfold whatever the blond gave him. It turned out to be an Fūma Shuriken (Wind Demon Shuriken).

The boy jumped into the air and launched the projectile. He watched as it avoided his two Mizu Bunshin and came right at him. It was an interesting ploy but it would do nothing against him. Zabuza easily caught the Fūma Shuriken when he noticed another Fūma Shuriken.

'So, that was their plan, hiding another shuriken within the shadow of the first one. The Kage Shuriken no Jutsu (Shadow Shuriken Technique), a very good technique. However,' Zabuza then jumped over the second Fūma Shuriken as it passed by him. "A shuriken will not touch me!" he shouted.

"How about a kunai?" Zabuza turned to see the Fūma Shuriken transform into that blond. He threw a kunai and was on target with Zabuza's head. Zabuza cursed as he was forced to release the prison in order to avoid the kunai. He managed to avoid it and the kunai nicked him on the cheek. That's when he noticed the tag on the end of it. There was an explosion that consumed Zabuza. Naruto hit the water and sunk for a bit before swimming to the surface. He broke the surface only to see a very pissed off Zabuza, his blade raised.

"You're dead kid!" Zabuza exclaimed. Lucky for him, Kakashi saved him with the Fūma Shuriken. Naruto dove under the water and swam back to the shore. He reached just in time as Kakashi launched another massive Suiton (Water Release) jutsu. He ignored it and focused on the remaining Mizu Bunshin. He threw two kunai; one was off its mark. The clone batted one away while the other exploded in the clone's face, dispelling it. Naruto shook off the access water while Kakashi was about to finish the real Zabuza off. That was until someone interfered.

XXX

Naruto sat on a stump near Tazuna's home. He had just finished securing the area with traps, just in case someone came for the bridge builder. Sakura called him a little paranoid because she believed that Gatō's main attacker was dead. Naruto was not so sure about that. The end of that battle kept running through his mind. The person who killed Zabuza couldn't be much older than him. He did it without a hint of hesitation. What made Naruto curious was the hunter-nin's next action, which was when he took the body away from the area. There was something that nagged Naruto about that. He sighed and tried to relax.

'Maybe Sakura is right about me being paranoid.' Naruto thought.

"Hey Naruto!" Naruto turned to the sound of Sakura's voice. "Kakashi-sensei is up and he wants to see us."

"Fine, I'm coming." Naruto said. He made his way back to the house and continued on upstairs. He entered the room to see his teammates, his sensei and Tazuna. He sat in the corner and looked at Kakashi.

"Glad you can join us Naruto. I must thank you for your help in getting me free from Zabuza's prison." Kakashi said.

"No problem, I'll just put that on your tab." Naruto said. Kakashi sighed and looked at his students.

"I have some bad news for you guys. We might be fighting Zabuza again." Kakashi said, shocking everyone.

"What are you talking about sensei? I thought you said that Zabuza was dead. You checked his pulse and everything!" Sakura exclaimed.

"I know but that hunter-nin didn't act like a hunter-nin is supposed to do. It shouldn't have mattered if we were there or not, he should have taken Zabuza's sword as a confirmation while destroying the body. Then there was the weapon they used. Senbon are not the normal killing tool. They are too thin and there are only a few spots on the body that a senbon can kill." Kakashi explained.

"That makes sense. Anko-oneesan use senbon but she coats them with various types of poisons, some that kill, some that paralyze. It could be that this guy coated his senbon with something that made us think that he's dead." Naruto added.

"Or he hit a certain point on his body that gives the illusion of death. All hunter-nin are skilled with the human body. Either way, I assume that Zabuza will be out for a while unless this hunter-nin is skilled with medicine. If it's the latter, we have about a week." Kakashi said.

"Aren't you guys overthinking this?" asked a worried Tazuna.

"In the shinobi world, we have to deal with the unexpected." Naruto said.

"Well said, that is why you guys will be ready for the next fight. It's time to train and prepare you for Zabuza's return." Kakashi stated.

"What can we do in a week?" Sakura asked worried.

"Don't sell yourselves short. You guys acted very well in your first life and death battle. I have confidence that you'll do well." Kakashi said with an eye smile. Naruto sighed and shook his head. If Kakashi had such confidence, he should have been training them since they were a team.

XXX

The next day, Kakashi, who was using crutches, stood in a forest with his team. They all faced him and waited for the training to begin.

"Okay, the first thing that we are going to do is get better control of your chakra." Kakashi said.

"What do you mean sensei?" Sakura asked.

"Chakra is the energy we use to cast our jutsu. It is a mixture of physical and spiritual energies. What you have to understand is that this energy must be mastered and control if you want to better use your chakra in using jutsu. To do so, I going to show you the first of few chakra exercises. We call this the Ki Nobori no Shugyō (Tree Climbing Practice)." Kakashi said. Naruto just smirked and prepared himself. Sasuke and Sakura were confused by what Kakashi said.

"But we already know how to climb trees?" Sakura said.

"Do you know how to climb without your hands?" Kakashi asked. He then demonstrated the Ki Nobori no Shugyō and shocked two of his students. "You must focus a fixed amount of your chakra to the bottom of your feet, and using that to climb the tree." Kakashi threw three kunai at each of their feet. "Use this to mark your progress. I suggest running first." Each genin grabbed a kunai and sprinted toward a tree. Sasuke ran up his tree before losing his hold on his chakra and breaking the bark. He marked his point before flipping down and landing on his feet. He looked at the mark with analyzing eyes.

'So, too much chakra and you get pushed off. That must mean that too little chakra and you fall right off.' Sasuke thought.

"Hey this is pretty easy." Sakura said. Kakashi and Sasuke looked to see Sakura sitting on a branch. She was all smiles. Kakashi looked at her.

'That isn't surprising. She has the smallest reserves among her teammates.' That's when he realized that Naruto was nowhere to be seen. 'Wait a minute, where's Naruto?' he thought.

"You should see this view guys!" Naruto shouted. They looked up but they couldn't see Naruto. That would mean that Naruto was on the top of the tree. Said blond was taking in the beauty of the forest. He was very happy that he got up the tree so fast. That meant that his speed and chakra control was getting better. This was an exercise that Anko 'convinced' him to do every day, even after he mastered the exercise. She explained to him that his chakra was massive, bigger than ever the Sandaime's. She also 'encouraged' him to challenge himself with this exercise. Either way, this technique was a breeze for him. He decided to go down just to see everyone's surprised faces.

He raced down the tree and came to a stop at the bottom. He walked the last three steps off the tree and gave everyone a smirk. He saw that they were surprised and he revealed in their surprise. All three had different thoughts about Naruto's success.

'Wow, he made it higher than me. I thought he had a lot chakra because he could use the Kage Bunshin and not suffer from chakra exhaustion. Wouldn't that make his control bad? Maybe, he's much stronger than we believe.' Sakura thought as she looked at the blond.

'What the hell is going on?! How is the dobe (loser) so much better than me at this?! He's been doing much better than me at everything, even against Zabuza. Is it because of that woman he calls his oneesan?' Sasuke thought viciously.

'So she showed him this too? I'm not complaining but he's ahead of his teammates. I want them to be at the same level for now. If this continues, I can see some friction between him and Sasuke.' Kakashi thought. "Well, this was much unexpected. Let's see if you can keep it up Naruto. Continue with the exercise." Naruto snorted at him but did not disobey or challenge Kakashi this time. He ran up the tree and ran all the way to the top. Sasuke growled and continued his exercise, not wanted to fall behind him. Sakura followed his lead and tried to get a little higher.

XXX

In a hideout in the trees, Zabuza laid in rest. His ally watched over him as he healed from his run in with Hatake Kakashi. He had done the best he could but he would need to go back outside to get more herbs to speed up the healing. As they spoke, three people entered the room. It was a short man in a business suit who was flanked by two would-be swordsmen. The short man looked at the two with a mocking smirk.

"So the fearful Kirigakure no Kijin (Demon of the Mist) comes back a failure? Perhaps your reputation is exaggerated." Gatō mocked. Zabuza said nothing and ignored the man. He sneered and walked up to the bed. "Hey Zabuza, I'm talking to you." He reached out to poke him when he was held by a strong grip. Gatō turned to the teenager who had him in a vice grip.

"You will not touch Zabuza-sama with your filthy hands." The boy warned.

"Argh, my… wrist…" Gatō groaned. His two bodyguards reached for their swords but were suddenly facing their weapons as Zabuza's partner had them at their necks.

'So fast!' they both thought.

"You don't want to mess with me. I'm in a very bad mood." He growled.

"Haku, that's enough." Zabuza ordered. Haku calmed down and reappeared at his master. Gatō growled at the boy but made no moves to do anything.

"Just get the job done Zabuza!" he shouted before leaving to get his hand fixed. His guards followed him after getting their weapons. Alone, Zabuza turned toward Haku.

"You didn't need to do that Haku." Zabuza said as he motioned to the kunai he held under the covers.

"I know but he is scum. I do not think we can trust him." Haku said.

"Right now, we don't have a choice. We will cross that bridge when we reach it. Now, continue telling me about what you learned about Kakashi and his brats." Zabuza ordered.

"Yes Zabuza-sama." Haku said and continued his report.

XXX

Sakura said down at the bottom of her tree, tired from all the work she had been doing. She didn't have the stamina that Sasuke or Naruto had. She looked to see that Sasuke had gotten a little higher than before and he was increasing his height with every go. Naruto was doing something much different than what they were doing. He was doing pull-ups with just his fingertips. He also had a pretty big boulder attached to his feet. He was doing this with his chakra and he didn't look all that winded. It was at this point that Sakura came to a realization. She realized how strong Naruto really was.

She still thought that he was rude, crass and idiotic but if it wasn't of him, they wouldn't have done nearly as well as they did against Zabuza. Sure, she didn't do anything but guard Tazuna but he thought of the plan that saved Kakashi and he took out that remaining clone that Zabuza created. Maybe, he wasn't the idiot that she thought that he was and maybe, he could help her get stronger. They didn't really get along but that didn't mean that Naruto wouldn't help her if she asked.

Gathering her courage and swallowing her pride, she made her way over to Naruto.

"Hey Naruto," Sakura called out. Naruto stopped his exercise and looked down at Sakura. She took a deep breath and faced him. "I was wondering if you can help me increase my chakra pool?" The request shocked Naruto that he lost his control of the boulder and his grip. He fell to the ground in a heap and grunted as he hit the ground. Kakashi who was watching the whole exchange couldn't help but smile at his team. He could see that Sakura was taking the first step in becoming a true kunoichi. It must have been hard for her when she asked Naruto of all people to help her. Maybe they would become a perfect team after all.

"What the hell?! I ask you for help and you think that I'm on some type of medication?!" Sakura roared.

"I'm just saying that because you never really were interested in becoming strong. To tell you the truth, I thought that you were taking something as you really weren't that strong to beginning with." Naruto answered honestly.

"Shānnarō!" Sakura exclaimed and bashed Naruto in the head. Then again, they could use a little bit more work.

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Authors' Notes: Hope you like the new ideas I put in this chapter. It's somewhat different, mostly the end. Enjoy.