Chapter XI: Burn the ships, Fëanáro
I hate boats. I sneezed waving my hand through the thick mist which proved to be a bad idea, making me lose my balance. There was also the dizziness, sign of a person not accustomed to traveling by boat, and the massive headache I thought I escaped since leaving the village. No such luck. Nope, I wasn't a lucky person indeed. I was keeping myself occupied, tying and untying my forehead protector which I was wearing it on my bow arm. Ha. I'm stealing Shikamaru's fashion statement. I was usually tying it on my arm just to get it out of the way. Instead of 'protecting', it's getting in my way.
The others didn't seem to be bothered by the boat. Well, the boat itself doesn't bother me either. The boat rocked and I clenched a hand on each side of it, closing my eyes. When did I become Sam Gamgee? The moment I got on this boat, apparently.
"What news from the South, oh sighing wind, do you bring to me at eve? Where now is Boromir the Fair? He tarries and I grieve." I mumbled almost squeezing my legs with my arms. Whenever I felt it was too quiet, I sang to myself. I have no idea why, but once a song got stuck in my head, singing was the only way of getting them out. I hoped. "Is that a bridge? My eyes don't work well in the mist."
My sentence made everyone look up to the mass of wood and metal. That is one huge bridge. My shock wasn't justified because yes, it was big but in comparison with The Golden Gate Bridge, Blackfriars Bridge, The Kremlin? Hoover Dam? Naaah. And many others, but all that belonged to another world, while in here, right now, this bridge was HUGE.
"Yes, this is THE bridge." the man rowing us across the water nodded. "If we move along the side of it we'll be at the Country of the Waves."
"It's huge!" Naruto exclaimed echoing my thoughts.
"Naruto, please, please stop moving." I said feeling blood retreating from my face and my stomach rising like a ball in my throat.
"Hey! Be quiet! We're using this boat and hide in the mist. I'm rowing instead of using the engine so we won't be caught. Or we'll be in trouble."
"Are you ok, Kaya-chan?"
I nodded at Sakura, not daring to speak one word. I'd puke. I looked at Tazuna after the man shushed Naruto. I pity him. It was a lost cause. I could see Kakashi and Sasuke work out what was going on. Why couldn't I just be born with the power to speed up time? If I could, I would hit the 'fast-forward' button to get over this sequence. The sea sickness was tormenting.
"Tazuna-san." Kakashi started fixing the bridge builder "Before the boat gets to the pier, there's something I need to ask you. The identity of those who are after you and the reason they are after you. Or we can call this mission off when you get ashore."
Why did I not bring vomiting bags with me? Perhaps because I had no such thing at home. But they didn't need to be vomiting bags, right? Any bag would do at this point. Tazuna didn't answer Kakashi. He fell silent looking down to the wood of the boat, pondering whether or not to tell the truth. I wished he would decide faster.
"It looks like I have to tell you the real story." Tazuna finally spoke. Kind of, old man. "As you said, this is most likely out of your job description. An extremely terrible man is after my life."
"An extremely terrible man?" Kakashi asked skeptical with Tazuna's brief description.
"Yes."
"Who is it?"
"You should have all at least heard the name of the marine transportation billionaire Gatō."
"Gatō? As in, Gatō from the Gatō Company?" ... no, Kakashi the one from the Taroukizaemonnosyoutokiyori one. I doubted I could actually pronounce that.
"Not quite. Is he someone important?" I asked concentrating on not vomiting. "Someone we should know about?"
"He's one of the richest men in this world." Kakashi clarified.
"That's right, he is the president of The Marine Transportation Company." Tazuna's forehead wrinkled "…but underground, he uses gags and ninja to smuggle drugs and contraband goods. He also does nasty jobs like takeovers of other companies and countries. A year ago, he set his sights on the Land of Waves. He entered this country using violence and wealth as his shield and he quickly took over the island's sea traffic and transportation. On an island like the Land of Waves, controlling the Sea means ruling over the wealth, politics and people of this island. And the only thing Gatō is afraid of is the completion of the bridge that has been under construction for quite some time."
"I see." Sakura spoke giving the old man a calculated look. "So you, as the one building the bridge, became an obstacle to him."
"Then those shinobi were sent by him." Sasuke stated the obvious. Duck…. You have to work on your deductions.
"Why does it not surprise me?" I snorted. "We get one decent mission and it's a B-ranked declared a C-rank. With assassins and The Mob."
"But I don't understand. He's a dangerous man that uses shinobi. Why did you hide that fact from us?"
I looked at Kakashi. He must haveknown the answer to that. But if you could make an old man admit that he lied to one of the most prominent nations of this world in order to protect and help his own country and its people from one of the most wealthy persons, as well as the head of the local (or not so local?) mob, why not as well do it, right?
"The Land of Waves is a really poor country. Even the feudal lord doesn't have much money." Tazuna explained looking down. "We don't have enough money to request a B-rank or any above C. If you quit your mission after I land, I'll be killed on my way home." I rolled my eyes. "But there's no need for you to blame yourselves. Only my cute eight years old grandson will cry and cry and cry some more. And my daughter will just hold a grudge against Konoha ninja and live a lonely life! But it's not your fault. "
"What happened with 'Be quiet'?" I asked shaking my head. We all looked between us arriving to the same conclusion.
""I guess it can't be helped. We will continue escorting you." Kakashi said in the name of the team, since he was a jounin.
"That's good to hear."
"No. Nope. That's it." I said crawling to one side of the boat and pushing the Duck out of my way.
I emptied my stomach in the waves trying not to fall into the water. I heard faint sounds of disgust. This is bad. My heart was pounding in my ears and for some seconds I couldn't hear anything else. I rested against the boat breathing deeply and slowly. I could vaguely hear Sakura but I couldn't make out the words. But I feel so much better now. I was shivering as I usually did after vomiting, my body weak and trying to recover.
"Water." I whispered weakly, waving my hand to gather air around me. I need something cold. Someone held a bottle of water and helped me drink from it not trusting my hand to hold the plastic and I was grateful for that. Getting over the feel of frustration because of my state and sea sickness, I was fast to regain my strength and hold the bottle myself. I'm not a fucking baby. I was annoyed by my helpless state.
"How long till we reach land?" Kakashi asked eyeing me.
""Not much." Tazuna answered.
"I'm fine, guys." I said clinging to the cold bottle, glued to my forehead. This feels good. "Thank you." I said to Sasuke to my right because I was weasting his water supplies after all. He nodded, but his expression told me that he will pester me about this the next few days. If we all survive.
It was ironical, really. We spent almost a week on the road, walking at normal speed because we had Tazuna with us and not even once was I sick, felt under the weather, except from my tentative migraine. My whole body even seemed to enjoy the change, the fresh air, sleeping under the stars, etc. I learned from my own experience that sleeping anywhere close to Naruto was harmful psychically and physically. He was turning and moving in his sleep like a true ADHD child. Oh, and I discovered that I liked roasted rabbit more than anything I could semi-cook. But from the moment I got in this boat… it's been HELL.
We entered some kind of tunnel. My knowledge about ports, boats, ships and anything linked to this subject is astonishing. The moment we got out of the tunnel-like thing, sun hit us violently. As if by magic. Just like in the anime, if I wasn't mistaken. Which made me wonder if the mist surrounding the bridge wasn't actually shinobi made. Or just morning fog seeing as we were reaching lunch time.
"Oh." I said covering my eyes because I couldn't see anything around me. "Wonderful."
It wasn't until the boat stopped that my eyes got used with the shining sun. Something is seriously wrong with my eyes. Well, not really. I discovered that my eye drops actually made my eyes more sensitive to light, but other than that nothing changed. Something changed. Ah, yes. The blurriness was gone. I hoped.
We got off the boat one by one. Yay, my legs are working… kind of. I didn't need help getting off the boat and even if I had I would have never allowed anyone to help me. My pride was already wounded; I didn't have to twist the knife.
"Kaya-chan?" Kakashi eyed me as I lost my balance for a second.
"Give me a minute." I said searching for some cover from the shadows between the houses on the dock. I gathered some water in my palms and splashed my face. I shook my head and caught a deformed glimpse of myself because of the waves. I didn't look half that bad as I was expecting. In my mind, I was already seeing myself as a woman escaped from a madhouse, with dry skin and pale face to match a person dead for at least three days. I was very pale and my lips were dry, but other than that I was fine. I got up on my feet and approached the others as the boatman started the engine and put some distance between the boat and land, in opposite direction from the bridge.
"Are you ok, Kaya-chan? You look very pale." Naruto asked with a suspicious voice.
"Yeah. Now I'm fine." I waved my hand. "I had no idea I have sea sickness"
"It's the first time you were on a boat?" Tazuna asked incredulously while we walked, distancing ourselves from the water.
"First time. Not a lot of sea or wide rivers in the Land of Fire." I confirmed and Tazuna nodded in understanding.
"None that you've encountered at least." Kakashi added.
"It's rough the first time." That's what he said. "Alright, take me home safely." Tazuna smiled happy to be back in his home country.
"Everything will be fine, old man." I said passing him, away from either Sakura or Naruto. I felt the need to think and recover from the earlier sickness and I couldn't do either of these with Naruto constantly fidgeting in front of me, or with Sakura examining my state like I was an injured animal.
Yay, for the quiet corner. Which wasn't really a corner and was composed of Kakashi, Sasuke and me. Kakashi must be thinking about our encounter with the two chūnin from Kirigakure. Well, of course he was, he must have figured out that our next encounter won't be with some other easy-to-beat ninja, but most likely at least a jounin level. Maybe we should have tortured those two into telling us where Gatō is. Yeah, if Tazuna would have told us earlier it was him hiring them, if we weren't a team of genin and if Kakashi approved of mass assassinations not appointed by the Hokage. Not to mention getting involved with the commercial affairs of another country.
If I didn't think the others would mark me as odd (if they hadn't yet) I would have facepalmed. What is wrong with me? I sighed, earning a look from a slightly curious Duck. I must confess, that the whole team thing... unnerved me. I was used to spending time alone, or with Mikasa, watching after my own things and persona without engaging in any kind of social activity.
So my face and reactions were a little… unguarded. Expressive. Easy to read. You know, all the good things shinobi as used to suppressed. Which, of course, worked fantastic for me as a genin, you can imagine. Spending even one week with other people made me aware of how inadaptated I have become. Socially. I was awkward with people which was a new thing for me. I've spent twelve years caught in this alternative reality, locking myself from people. It hadn't been a smart move.
I realized in that moment I was jealous of Sakura's social skills. That girl spoke and interacted with people so easily. At the same time, I was grateful for that because it actually helped me feel more at ease. She was initiating the conversation, I was carrying it forward. I was genuinely grateful for it. I couldn't say the same thing about the Duck, for example. If it wasn't absolutely necessary he wouldn't mutter a single word. Unless it was about something he believed in. Which begged the question: was he really so unbothered with the people around him? Or the world? I noticed he was keeping an eye on me. And Naruto. And Sakura. Now that I thought about it, it was kind of mutual. I was also keeping an eye on everyone. So maybe I have misjudged them all.
I realized in that moment I was jealous of Sakura's social skills. That girl spoke and interacted with people so easily. At the same time, I was grateful for that because it actually helped me feel more at ease. She was initiating the conversation, I was carrying it forward. I was genuinely grateful for it. I couldn't say the same thing about the Duck, for example. If it wasn't absolutely necessary he wouldn't mutter a single word. Unless it was about something he believed in. Which begged the question: was he really so unbothered with the people around him? Or the world? I noticed he was keeping an eye on me. And Naruto. And Sakura. Now that I thought about it, it was kind of mutual. I was also keeping an eye on everyone. So maybe I had misjudged them all.
I left out Jesus Christ. Ah. The blonde. I looked ahead at the orange Uzumaki-Namikaze. I smiled, shaking my head slightly. Naruto was annoying. Really annoying. At the point of contemplating how he would look impaled on a stake … which of course I would never do. I couldn't hate him, that's why rather than scowling I was laughing at his stupidity. He was breaking my heart. All his childhood he has been alone, isolated. All those years made him thirsty for acknowledgment. His rivalry with Sasuke was a result of that. I did have something in common with the blonde. Neither of us knew our parents (well, at least I wasn't supposed to know his) and neither of us tried to find out who they were. I couldn't stand looking at this kid too much. Not literally. How could I, when all I could see was pain, sadness, love, suffering, friendship, achievement, death, love?
All the things to come were linked to this idiot and knowing what a long and twisted road was ahead, was the main reason I wanted to watch things from a distance. Because I was a coward. And a survivor. I didn't want his future, I didn't want his suffering. I was selfish but perhaps not really. I wasn't self-destructive. Naruto, Sakura, the other Rookies were strong enough to get through the future events, I wasn't and I doubted I would ever be. Am I thinking all this because we are in eminent danger? We were going to face Momochi Zabuza after all.
I watched as the two idiots walked in front of us all, close almost as if each of them wanted to be the one walking in the front. What the…? Then Naruto sprung forward and scooted the area with a kunai in his hand. Is he sensing someone? I looked around, concentrating on our surroundings. There was indeed someone, but the intruder's chakra felt weird. Concealed. Hidden from the young untalented – but perhaps not so untalented? ehehe – genin like me. Especially like me. I had yet to get used with the idea of chakra. However, putting aside the oddity of it, using it was pretty … natural. Very much like breathing. Or blinking. If you aren't Galadriel. Heh, got it? Because she never blinks? What bothered me was that I was doing it instinctively and not because I knew what I was doing. I literally have no idea what I am doing. But it was working. I sighed. Sometimes I was seriously questioning my intellect.
"There!" the blonde exclaimed throwing the kunai in a random direction. I rolled my eyes and scoffed. No. He sensed nothing. He's just being an idiot. His action took us all by surprise.
"What is that idiot doing?" I hissed a little too loud and too close for Sasuke's sensitive ears as he glared at me.
"Oh, it was just a mouse." he said trying to sound smooth.
"Stop showing off!" Sakura exclaimed unnerved by Naruto's attempt to seem 'alert'. "There was nothing out there!"
"Please, Naruto, don't use your kunai so carelessly." Kakashi smiled nervously using 'his sensei voice'. It usually worked on Naruto.
"Hey, midget! Don't scare us!"
I sighed at Tazuna. So, he didn't actually trust us with his life. As the hypocrite I was, I found that quite offensive.
"Um, guys," I started. "There is something, moving slightly right there, but…"
"Someone is hiding over there!" Naruto cut me off throwing a second kunai.
"Wait! That's not what I said-"
Sasuke frowned and looked at me, while I shook my head sighing. It's nothing. Well, that was a lie, but after spending nights in the woods, giving Nekobaa a fright, I could easily make the difference between animals shifting under leaves and Kirigakure missing-nins carrying massive swords lurking in the trees and waiting to cut our pretty little necks … but are we supposed to meet Zabuza now? Or was my memory playing tricks on me?
"I told you to stop!" Sakura hit Naruto overhead which I guessed wasn't the best solution to extorting stupidity out of him. No indeed. I sighed and made way through the bushes.
"It isn't a mouse." I explained as Kakashi came closer to investigate the potential threat. "It's a rabbit."
"Which makes a crucial difference." Sasuke rolled his eyes.
"Why, Sasuke how surprisingly. You actually have a voice." I grabbed the snow rabbit by the ears. "And a sense of sarcasm. There might still be hope for you. Also, I think it's dead. The rabbit. From a heart attack. Naruto, your aim is shit."
"Look what you've done!"
"Sorry I didn't mean it." Naruto took the rabbit from me and started rocking it like a baby. That's…not how you hold an animal. What was wrong with these people? Had they never held an animal before? "Sorry, rabbit." I frowned at the image.
"Kaya-chan…?"
"That's a snow rabbit" I said quietly. My hand going slowly to the quiver and the bow string. "In late summer. In the Land of Waves."
"Huh?" Sakura looked at me confused. "What about it?"
"They don't live in this climate. This one was breed in house." It's cruel to use animals for a Replacement Jutsu.
"Everyone, get down!"
We all reacted differently getting out of the way as Zabuza's massive sword flew over our heads. Executioner's sword. Shaped like a butcher's knife. Only, you know, ten times bigger. How the fuck was he holding it? Seriously, have you even seen that sword?! It's ridiculously massive. He just threw it at us. My head was almost pulled back because of the force when it flew over. Now it was stuck in a tree trunk. With Zabuza standing on it. Snap out of it. But this was ridiculous. Yeah, ridiculous, in a world where people have chakra, clans are wiped out in one night, twelve-year old children face high trained ninja and I shoot arrows trying to kill people.
I got hold of my bow and put an arrow in the string, my eyes fixed on the Mist missing-nin. It was arrogant of him to stand with his back turned on us, showing how little, he feared a confrontation. You never turn your back to the enemy. The others were waiting tensed, looking between Kakashi and our new opponent. Funny way of wearing the headband. One thing I never understood was why Zabuza hid his face.
"Oh, my, my, Momochi Zabuza." Kakashi got closer with his hands in his pockets as if he was just recognizing a fellow ninja on a sunny day walking downtown the Country of Waves. Confidence. Not only to show Zabuza that he isn't surprised but to tell us that everything is under control. Perhaps it would have worked if I didn't know things weren't under control. "The exiled ninja of the Hidden Village in Mist."
I tensed the bowstring. It wasn't because I was planning to shoot Zabuza – he was a highly trained ninja, a missin-nin working as an assassin, I doubted an arrow was a problem to him – but to calm myself. I felt safer with a weapon in my hands. As fucked up as that was for a person who never tried to kill people before and had been educated to disregard violence. That was another life. Naruto started forward, but Kakashi stopped him with a hand.
"Stand back everyone. You'll only get in the way." Kakashi spoke not out of overconfidence but because he was trying protect us from a potentially very dangerous threat. Well, he's not wrong.
"Naruto." I spoke in a lowered tone. "That's a missing – nin." As if that's supposed to stop him. But hey, at least I tried.
"And what's with that?" Naruto asked unsurprisingly.
"He's way different from the guys we met before." Kakashi explained calmly. "If he's our enemy…" his hand went up to his forehead protector covering his left eye "I can't win like this."
"I'm guessing you are Kakashi the Sharingan user." Zabuza said in a flat voice.
My eyes sought immediately the Duck, as if the word ringed some very loud alarms and flashes in the back of my mind. Neither of us gave away any reaction, but we both were bound to recognize the name of our clan's dōjutsu. That's a normal reaction on my part, right? I looked back at the grey jounin. Isn't it a bit soon for that...? To be honest I couldn't remember this fight. I knew Kakashi used his Sharingan, but gets trapped in a sort of jutsu and that Sasuke and Naruto end up saving him due to teamwork. And then Haku. But I had no idea how it will be influenced by my presence. Hopefully not much. I'm like an intruder. How could I help without fucking up the entire thing? Or just staying out of it and let it unfold?
"I'm sorry, but I'll need you to hand over the bridge builder." Zabuza said politely but not really.
"Oh, sorry to hear that." I started talking when I knew I should have shut up. "But we can't really do that. He's kiiiinda our mission. We'll have to kindly ask you to let us pass, so we can carry on with it. Thank you in anticipation."
Why? Zabuza looked at me from up high on his sword – still, that thing is HUGE and it went over our heads? – amusement almost twinkling in his eyes. Or at least that's what I saw. I think. I hope?
"A witty brat." his voice didn't gain any inflections. "I'm afraid I can't do that."
"Well, I tried, guys." I sighed and turned to my teammates to shrugh, earning a 'are-you-crazy' look from Sakura. The answer was clear.
" Kaya – don't. Everyone, listen up." Kakashi spoke without turning. Of course he can't turn, that would be suicide. "Don't forget our mission. Protect Tazuna-san. And don't interfere in the battle."
"No problem from my part." I mumbled eyeing the missing nin. Every hair on my body sat upright, as if something very wrong was happening.
Kakashilifted his headband and revealed the crimson Sharingan with three pitch black tomoye. Sooo preeety. Will I ever get those? What the fuck was I thinking? Why would I wanted the Sharingan? To eventually go blind? I shook my head. The scar was rather log, cutting vertically on Kakashi's eyelid and disappeared under the headband and the mask. I whistled. Long scar.
"I'm honored that I can see the Sharingan that I've heard about." Zabuza sounded almost sincerely and his politeness hit me again. So even if he's our enemy, there is no reason to be rude. Hannibal Lecter would have been proud. Shit. I've never got to watch season 3. Oh. Shiiiiit.
"Sharingan! Sharingan! What is Sharingan?!"
"Really?! You want a lesson on kekkei genkai, right now?" I said in an angry whisper.
"… what is kekkei genkai?"
I wondered silently when will I ever not label Naruto as 'This idiot'. I sighed while getting closer to Tazuna.
"Sharingan is a powerful dōjutsu kekkei genkai. It's generated by the pupil. The ones who use the dōjutsu are said to be able to see through all genjutsu, taijutsu and ninjutsu, and copy them." Are said? I looked at the young Uchiha duck and frowned. Hasn't he activated the Sharingan, like, years ago? Could it be… that he wasn't aware of it? That's retarded. Still. It would kinda make sense. "But that's not the only ability the Sharingan possesses." I snorted at that. That's a serious understatement.
"Not to mention that it appears selectively among the members of a certain clan." I eyed Kakashi with a sarcastic smile.
"You're just scratching the surface." Zabuza laughed. "That's just in overall view on what what the Sharingan can do. The scary part is that the Sharingan can understand how an opponent technique works and copy it."
"That's… exactly what Sasuke said." I tilted my head. "You sure you know what the Sharingan is?"
Also, no. That's not the scary part. Madara is the scary part. But that was too soon. Just as I stopped talking mist gathered around. Fuck. One of the most iconic techniques of Zabuza and I forgot about it. Again, what the fuck is wrong with me?
"Insolent brats you've got there Kakashi. Do they live up to their arrogance?"
"Sakura." I whispered covering my mouth with the one hand I was pulling the arrow in the string with the other. "Get closer to Tazuna and tell the others to so as well."
She nodded, holding a kunai and stepped towards a confused Naruto. I can at least put them on guard, can't I? It wasn't like we were all tensed and aware of the fact that we were on the verge of an attack.
"When I was in the Hidden Village in Mist's assassination squad" Zabuza's voice seemed to reverberate around, but I could see him still in his initial position as the mist got thicker and thicker. "your information was listed in the bingo book I carried asking for your capture." He was talking about Kakashi, of course. Well, believe it or not, but I didn't hold bingo books in very high regard. All that was written there was coming from ANBU, which in Konoha meant Danzo. So yeah. "It said: the man who copied more than a 1000 technique, Kakashi the Copy Ninja."
I was in awe. I've never seen a mist like this. Yes, it was bad because I couldn't see anything further than, perhaps, three meters and that gave Zabuza the liberty to cut us to pieces without even seeing him, but it was a technique I would love to learn … just not from Zabuza.
"I think that's enough talk." Zabuza's voice took a darker turn. "I have to kill the old man right away." Then why waste time talking? This bothered me from the start.
We all gathered around Tazuna. And now my watch begins. I smiled, distancing myself vaguely from the three, attentive to everything that moved. Damn this mist. If a wild rabid squirrel decided to spontaneously have a taste of us I wouldn't be able to shoot it. If a mosquito landed on my nose, I wouldn't notice it. I tried to locate Zabuza and watched everything. He's still in the tree.
"But, Kakashi, it seems I have to defeat you first."
I snorted. Oh, the dramatics. Yeah. Fuck us. We don't matter. Then I couldn't see him anymore. He disappeared! We were all four alert. Water. That's the keyword.
"He's there!"
I followed Naruto's gaze to see Zabuza's silhouette standing on the surface of a flowing river. I want to learn that too. Is he…? Yep. I looked at the position of his arms and the water stirring around his feet. That's chakra. In the water. The mist? Or something bigger.
"Is he standing on water?" Sakura asked confused. Well, I wasn't the only one clueless when it came to jutsus and chakra manipulation. But she's not clueless. Just… easily impressed.
"That's a lot of chakra he's imbedding into the water." I frowned. "Be careful."
"Mist concealment." Wonderful. Note to self: Mist isn't good for archery. No shit.
"He disappeared!"
"Blah." I make a disgusted noise. "This is humid." My hair was glued to my neck where it came out of the braid and black ringlets even got into my eyes. I am so cutting it when we get to Tazuna's.
"He'll try to eliminate me first, yet…" Kakashi got closer to the side of the river. As a jounin his first concern was to protect us and take out the threat.
"Who is he?" Sakura almost demanded clutching the kunai.
"Momochi Zabuza. He was in the Hidden Village in Mist's ANBU and was known for his 'silent killing' techniques." Kakashi almost cited a bingo book.
"Silent…?"
"Ah." I said. " Just that? You mean like how he's dead silent right now?" Kakashi ignored me.
"Just as the name implies, it's a killing technique that's executed in a flash and carried out in absolute silence." I nodded energically.
"Just like now."
"I can't use my Sharingan to its full potential. Be on your guard."
"The mist is getting thicker!"
"Is that even possible at this point?" I mumbled then said towards Naruto. "He's depriving us from a fundamental sense: eyesight. He's counting on that." Of course, a ninja was relying on all his senses and trained them in every way possible. But, well, we were genin. There's still Kakashi.
"The Country of Waves is surrounded by the ocean, so mist often emerges." Tazuna offered.
"Yeah, well Konoha is surrounded by leaves and they often fall during autumn." I mumbled. "This is Zabuza taking full advantage of his surroundings." Just like a well trained shinobi does.
"Sensei!"
Sakura's exclamation made me aware of the fact that Kakashi disappeared into the mist. That's creepy as fuck. I can't see anything. I needed to focus. He's near. I feel it. If I closed my eyes I could feel his signature chakra moving around. That's the mist. But…
"Eight points."
The voice boomed upon us from all around and my hand tightened on the bow and arrow. No shaking. That's good. Better. Than last time. I heard Tazuna's breath hitch in his throat. I feel you pal. Me too. Me. Too.
"Larynx. Spine. Lungs. Liver. Jugular vein. Collarbone. Kidney. And heart."
"Yes. We know the vital points." I spoke feeling too hyped to stay silent and earning a dark chuckle.
"Which one do you want to get struck at?"
"Jugular. It'll be over before I see the blood."
Kakashi's chakra exploded around dissipating the mist. MUCH better. I was rather fast to think that. A sudden pressure hit me. All I wanted was to curl in a ball on the ground and stay there. Bloodlust. Slaughter. Death. Pain. Bloodbath. Death. Death. DEATH. Was this killing intent? My hands. They were violently shaking. Just like last time. Fuck. I looked at Sasuke. Yeah. I remember this. He was frozen, stiffen and if I could have seen his face, most likely freaked out too. So, this is what happen when two jounin try to kill each other. They first try to intimidate each other. Killing intent couldn't possibly do anything other than that… right? This pressure. I felt the sudden urge to throw up again. Violently.
"Sasuke." Kakashi spoke suddenly. "Don't worry. I'll protect the four of you with my life." What about Tazuna? "I won't let anyone on my team die."
"I don't know about that."
Shitshitshitshitshitshitshtshtshitshit.
Zabuza was right behind us. I got distracted! We were all taken aback and I jumped away releasing the arrow just as Kakashi moved toward Zabuza. Thank the Vala I'm not a good archer. The arrow only grazed his hair while Kakashi stabbed him in the stomach. Did I just waste an arrow? Out of the wound caused by Kakashi poured water. A clone. I smiled. I understand.
"Sensei! Behind you!" Naruto shouted.
Zabuza's sword cut through Kakashi with a splashing sound. Just as I thought. Another water clone. Kakashi's water clone. Well, Zabuza did say that the Sharingan can copy the opponent's techniques, didn't he? I pulled out another arrow and pointed at Zabuza's head.
"Don't move." Kakashi appeared from behind Zabuza with a kunai grazing the skin of his neck. "This is the end." If only.
"The end?" Zabuza laughed. There's only one reason why he would be so calm. "Is it, really –"
He was cut off by an arrow through his throat. The clone exploded in a splash of water and got lost in the mist, missing Kakashi by three centimeters. Too tempting. Standing sideways and holding the kunai to his throat leaving so much space open for shooting.
"Kaya-chan!" Naruto's cry erupted before the clone dissolved into water.
Unfortunately, that didn't stop Zabuza from coming behind Kakashi and trying to cut him in two. Oh my Vala, his moves are so fluid. Kakashi ducked while Zabuza's sword cut the air barely missing. Putting his weight in the now stuck in the ground sword, he kicked Kakashi away. Yes, kicked Kakashi away in air. What the …?
"Clever brat. But I won't be defeated with copied techniques or poorly aimed arrows."
I didn't have time to pull another arrow. Zabuza came at us with such a speed I barely had time to draw a breath. And he's carrying that with him as well! Incredible. Dangerous and most likely lethal for us, but amazing all the same. Then he stopped …
"… How idiotic."
And he jumped in the river. I stood watching stupidly, dumbfounded after the missing-nin. Why would he…? Something stopped him. I looked around trying to see what brought the crazy psychotic butcher knife ninja to a halt. My eyes have fallen on the little metallic things on the ground. They were stuck in, cutting the way to the river. Makibishi spikes. I remembered from the Academy days.
"His hand-to-hand combat skill is superb too."
Sakura looked at me incredulous. I shrugged. My hand-to-hand combat was shit and we were still alive. I could admire the guy, no? It might have been the last minutes on my life, I intended to spend them admiring and enjoying some epic fight.
Now, where is Kakashi? I guessed that he would take cover. Maybe I shouldn't have shot that arrow. I might have distracted our sensei, rather than help. He did say to not get involved. I'm getting in trouble after all this is over. But I couldn't stay still. We were in danger, a rogue shinobi was trying to kill us and our client, and our sensei was telling us to not get involved. Because our priority is to protect Tazuna, not to eliminate Zabuza.But weren't they the same thing at this point? Yes, the voice in my head was screaming to eliminate any danger in order to guarantee our safety. Which was stupid. The danger is Gatō. He was the Master Pupetter. Zabuza was only payed to kill Tazuna. Say that Zabuza died now – he won't due to Haku – then all Gatō has to do is find someone else to kill Tazuna. No more stupid actions. Do what Kakashi says. Oh. Kakashi. Said Jounin's head came to the surface of the river... just to be captured by Zabuza's jutsu. I missed what Zabuza said because they were at a considerable distance.
"Water Clone Technique"
Jutsu. With. One. Hand. The clone appeared before us. A nice counterattack to his water nature chakra would be lightning. For some odd reasons I really wanted to see Zabuza biting the dust due to Chidori. Yea, that won't happen. And I couldn't shoot him at such a short distance.
"The three of you have forehead protectors on as if you think yourselves ninja." the water clone spoke bringing my attention back on the fight. "But ninja refers to someone who has gone through numerous life and death situations. In other words, you can call yourselves ninja when you appear in my bingo book." I snorted hard.
"A real shinobi doesn't appear in anyone's bingo book." I said acidly. "Why would I want, as a shinobi, to appear into someone's bingo book, with a full profile about my abilities and other crucial information?"
"You three aren't ninja." he replied discrediting what I said. He disappeared from my sight but the sounds that followed gave me a good idea where he went. Naruto, huh?
The mist shifted and Zabuza appeared stepping on Naruto's headband, while the blonde stood on the ground shaking like a rabbit. I didn't even have time to see what happened, but I had a good guess. Something about that picture made me, very, very angry. And scared. The water clone just stood there trying to make a point out of the fact that we are pathetic.
"Naruto!" Sakura shouted.
"You're just kids."
"Everyone!" Kakashi's voice pierced through the air like a needle. "Take Tazuna-san and run! You can't win against him! He can't move as long as he has me trapped in this water prison! He also can't use his water clone if you get away from him! Run, now!"
"What kind of fucked up plan is that, Kakashi-sensei?" I asked. Soo much panic. "Say we let Zabuza kill you and run away… where? Whenever we go he will follow, until either he kills us and then kill Tazuna, or we give up and let him kill Tazuna. That would mean making a tradition out of letting people die in order to survive. That would make us anything but shinobi indeed." I looked at Zabuza's clone. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Sasuke very attentive to my speech. He's thinking the same thing. That's good. As long as we worked as a team and didn't head into the fight aimlessly on our own…
…then Sasuke broke into running, throwing shuriken at Zabuza. Stuuupid Duck. Zabuza used his sword to dodge the shuriken and caught the Uchiha midair trying to strangle him. I sighed. Oh, well. Zabuza just threw Sasuke in a random direction as if he were a rag doll. I reached for an arrow.
"You just… can't think before you act can you?" I commented when the duck grunted and shot me a death glare. Or something close to that. Well, I was sassy right now, due to stress. Funny. Not.
… something snapped within Naruto. He got up slowly, with a determined expression. His wounded hand was clutched into a fist. Oh. Back when we were attacked. Yeah. I remembered. His promise to protect Tazuna and to not lose to Sasuke. So, the blonde warmed up? I sure hope so. I have no idea what to do. I could always just accept the irony and stupidity of the situation. I would die, granted, but I would have a good laugh. I mean, how many genin teams refuse to drop a mission at least twice more dangerous than initially ranked and be surprised by the serious threat it poses to them? We should have expected this. Well, I did but that's another thing. Naruto started running towards the clone.
"Idiot! Stop!"
Kakashi was the voice of reason. I think. So obviously no one listened to him. I giggled and Tazuna stared at me almost with pity. Most likely he thought I've lost it … which perhaps wasn't far from the truth. Just a little.
"Naruto! What are you thinking?!" Sakura said dismayed. I shook my head as the blonde was hit and sent back to our feet.
"What are you thinking charging on your own like that?" from Sakura's words I heard the frustration of not being able to actually do anything. But should she take it out on Naruto? "Even Sasuke-kun is no match against him." … who charged on his own much like Naruto. "Genin like ourselves have no way of defeating him no matter what we try – "
The words died in her throat. Naruto held his headband and I had the satisfaction to see Sakura's face explode into awe.
"Hey… the No-Brow there." I shook my head. Only Naruto. He was shaking but this time not out of fear but because of the sore and uncooperative battered muscles. That must hurt. A lot. "Put this in your bingo book…the man who will become the Hokage of the Hidden Village in Leaves one day…" He stood straight as if nothing happened and my smile widened like the Cheshire Cat and he put his headband back, with blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. "Uzumaki Naruto!"
"Are you two done now?" I asked trying to sound bored or cold, but failed miserably as I couldn't stop smiling. This brilliant, idiotic, inspiring, stupid, fox-like… blonde. "Done charging like mad dogs on your own, I mean. Perhaps a plan or two might come handy. Any suggestions?"
"Yeah." Naruto said panting. "Sasuke, lend me your ear for a second." Just his ear? We're not in Hannibal. I shook my head. Bad cannibal joke.
"What do you want?" the duck asked annoyed.
"He wants to tell you the secret recipe of the best ramen on Earth. So, listen close." I said condescending. "He has a plan obviously, idiot." I was getting rather fed up with Mr. Attitude Duck.
"Hn. I can't believe you want to work as a team."
"Shut it Uchiha, and for once in your life go with what other people say." I talked calm looking at Naruto and putting my arrow in the bowstring. I'm going to destroy my fingers. The more I held an arrow in the string the more it cut my skin and flesh and got my arm tired. Deeper and deeper. I was beginning to agree with the old man at the weapon store. The string of the bow was slightly more tensed then my weak arms could handle. "Go on Naruto. I'll cover you two."
He grinned at me and nodded. 'Covering' them didn't truly make any sense because I couldn't possibly help them other than keep an eye on Zabuza's clone and put an arrow between his eyes if something went wrong, but it gave the blonde the confidence that someone was approving him. Sasuke was gritting his teeth slightly, but didn't mutter a word. So, this is the determined Naruto who thinks in battles. I chuckled at Sasuke's expression. I nudged him just to make sure he was alive and not a stone statue too stunned to even breathe. Cat got your tongue, Duck? I did not want to know what he was thinking when he narrowed his eyes at me.
"Let's go wild now!"
I stepped back with Sakura protecting Tazuna. We shared a look and nodded. Protect Tazuna. Save Kakashi. Defeat Zabuza. Simple. The outcome of this fight is in the hands of an ADHD kid and an overconfident messed up jerk. Yep, things are looking pretty good. Zabuza started chuckling darkly in order to intimidate us or simply because we amused him. Either way it wasn't very encouraging. It doesn't matter.
"You seem to be pretty confident, but do you even have a chance for victory?" he said calmly and doubtful.
"What are you all doing?! I told you to run away!" Kakashi shouted determined to make us abandon the fight. "The outcome of this battle has been decided the moment I got caught! Hurry and run! Our mission is to protect Tazuna, did you forget that?"
"Zabuza won't touch even a hair of the old man." I said moving closer with the arrow set in the string. I could tell Tazuna was watching me but I stared at the water clone. If I could get rid of it and make an opening for these two… but, no. Naruto had a plan. So wait for it.
"Little girl…" I twitched at Tazuna's appellative. "I am the one who cause all of this in the first place. I won't say that I want to survive no matter what. Sorry everyone. Fight as much as you want."
"No one dies today." I muttered. What do we say to the God of Death? Not today. I smiled.
"Hn. That's how it is."
"Are you ready?"
I hissed quietly and only Sakura threw me a side glance. Too much talk. Not to mention Zabuza started laughing at the two, Sasuke and Naruto. Really laughing.
"You don't learn, do you? Still pretending to be ninja? When I was your age, my hands were soaked with blood already."
"Ah" I said not wanting another lesson about history or any other kind of lesson to be honest. "Your exam to become a ninja? Heard of it."
"What are you talking about?" Naruto asked turning slightly to me.
"Only what information I could find in some restricted documents, in the library." I lied, grimacing. "Don't tell anyone that. The Demon Zabuza."
"Oh? I see you have heard of me" he looked at me with the same amusement. He cut me off. Why does everybody do that?
"The 'final test' was … rather peculiar."
"What final test?"
"Just listen, idiot." I snapped at Naruto. "Students killing each other. Slaughter."
"Friends who have eaten from the same pot are separated into groups and forced to fight each other until one of them is killed." Zabuza's voice was expressionless. "This is done with friends that have helped each other, shared their dreams, and competed together."
"That awful…" Sakura winced, horrified.
"He killed all his classmates." I almost spitted. "How many were there? Fifty? One hundred? But that was years ago. They had to reform the system in The Hidden Village in Mist."
"That was … fun." Zabuza's expression would have looked deranged if it wasn't for the mask. That didn't mean it wasn't creepy. Then he disappeared.
Again, no one expected it. But this time my ninja senses tingled. Shit. Too fast. He went for Sasuke. He elbowed the duck in the stomach and then pinned him to the ground with another hit but stopped when an arrow grazed his arm. A solid clone? Of course, he wasn't a genin. That's not good. He was already with the hand of the hilt of his sword so moving some steps further and stopping in front of me was pretty easy. I didn't even realize what happened, holding the bow up, exposing my stomach and legs because why not, until the huge blade cut in the space between my neck and shoulder. So…heavy!
"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura's voice sprung in the air. A pause. "Kaya-chan!"
Ah, Sakura sorting her priorities. Sasuke got into a sitting position, wiping the blood he spit from his face, looking at Zabuza and me, horrified. It wasn't good he couldn't stand up yet; Zabuza was only a step away from him. He's too close to Tazuna too. If he got pass me and Sakura... I took a kunai and tried to stab the clone as Kakashi did earlier, but Zabuza expected that and went back to his spot after he messed with both me and the duck. My hands… they were shaking with pain from the effort of holding the sword.
"A scratch like this and you call yourself an archer?" the ridicule in his voice was meant to pick my anger as he turned his arm to see where my arrow grazed him. "There were ninja who could shoot their target from a mile away. Who had perfect aim and speed. But a child half your age could pull a more decent shot than that. What are you going to do with your bow arm incapacitated?"
I clutched at my wound and my hand got sticky immediately. I hissed. Warm, sticky blood running down my entirely side and neck, fast. Not good. I've got seriously injured. I stared at my other hand that came away covered in blood. Soo much. Better then letting his sword cut through my bow like butter. Was it tho? The cost of protecting my bow was partially taking the blow with my own body. The perks of being a shinobi dependent on your weapon. Too much blood, I don't want to see it. I couldn't because I would freeze. Again. You were afraid. The duck's words burned in my mind as bad as the cut did. I had been reckless and stupid.
I brushed the scratch on the upped side of the bow, where metal met metal, stopping Zabuza's sword from cutting right through me. Of course I hadn't been fast and strong enough to stop the sword completely and didn't trust the bow to sustain such a blow. Bless the man at the weapon store. My bow had one side made out of metal and it was his recommendation. I winced as my arm was going numb while the cut itself hurting with a fiery pain.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
Zabuza was surrounded by Narutos. Literally. All of his Shadow Clones with kunai ready to attack. It was so weird seeing so many Narutos. I for one couldn't say which one was the real one. Wait a second.
"Huh? Kage Bunshin no Jutsu? You replicated quite a few too." Zabuza's hand was resting on his sword yet. That sword has my blood on it.
"Here I come!"
All the clones attacked at the same time making it impossible to see Zabuza anymore under the thick layer of Narutos. I tried to put more pressure on my wound half trying to stop the bleeding and half trying to make sure I still had an arm, because otherwise I couldn't feel it. But the sword didn't slip that deep into the flesh… did it? My fear were severed nerves or worse, arteries. Could I be that unlucky? After all, Zabuza was a prodigy and a skilled assassin. He knew what he was doing cutting into people. Yeah. I presume he does. Dark humor.
Zabuza cut through Naruto's clones with a large motion of the sword. Naruto went flying too, but he got something out of his bag and threw it to Sasuke. Is this part of his plan? I encouraged him when he said he had one, but I've been pretty skeptical even though I didn't voice it. I remember him having a plan or something, to get Kakashi out of Zabuza's jutsu, and that's why I was so supportive, but knowing Naruto for some time now, I had my doubts.
"Sasuke!"
The most overused word in the anime.
Sasuke caught the object and smirked. Oh. Oh. A shuriken. A shuriken? I was bewildered. And amused. And suddenly tired. Giving a shuriken to an Uchiha. How appropriate. It was an arm length shuriken. If I wasn't mistaken some of the shuriken used today were improved and created by the Uchiha clan, since we were a clan specialized in fighting. And weapons. And killing. And hatred. And I'm losing a lot of blood. My jacket was soaked with blood dripping on the ground. Shit. I could barely stand. This pain… and exhaustion. Shit.
"The Fūma Shuriken. The Shadow Windmill." Sasuke said dramatically and I rolled my eyes.
"He dbos knbow thsat sdayiong thse nsame odf tge wreapon does bnot hrelp, rtight?" I tried to talk, but my tongue was made out of lead.
"Kaya-chan, are you alright?" Sakura asked, concern laced in her voice.
"A shuriken won't work on me. No more than an arrow did." Zabuza said, but Sasuke ignored him and threw the shuriken. That's actually a good throw.
The shuriken went pass the water clone. I dropped the bow and quiver to the ground along with the backpack. Why didn't I do that earlier? They were heavy. The real Zabuza caught the shuriken… and another shuriken came at him. Ha. I guess he didn't hear the name of the shuriken, despise Sasuke's good intention to spell it explicitly. That was the technique of the shuriken but in this special case… not quite. Trapped between keeping Kakashi immobilized in his jutsu and holding the other shuriken, Zabuza did the only sensible thing he could do: he jumped. Perfect. The shuriken went towards the river and transformed into Naruto. Bite that Zabuza. I heard Sakura gasping in surprise. A shuriken hidden in the shadow of the shuriken. Or, Naruto hidden in the shadow of the shuriken. I chuckled delighted by everyone's reaction and my own, of course. Naruto threw a kunai towards Zabuza. Which forced him to cancel the jutsu and free Kakashi.
"Naruto!" I shouted with what strength I had yet. I can't believe I did that. But Zabuza was seriously enraged, since Naruto managed to free Kakashi and graze the missing-nin's face. And Zabuza had a shuriken, while Naruto was falling defenseless in the river. I knew I couldn't move my arm, let alone try and use the bow, not to mention the arrow wouldn't make it in time, but I still tried to get hold of the bow and break some nails in the process. Shit. But he can't die. He's the main character.
Zabuza never threw the shuriken. He tried but it stopped in Kakashi's hand. As in, it cut into his hand and stopped in the bone or something, I guessed. I have fallen to my knees at the same time the splash announced Naruto's own fall in the river.
"Kaya-chan!"
"Huh?"
Things spiiiiiinned. But I didn't lose consciousness. I just stood on my knees and then in a sitting position on the ground. Just kinda… vibing with the mist. Shit. I held my hand in the air to stop her from approaching. Someone had to protect Tazuna at all costs. While there was Sasuke, he could be useful in battle, with me useless – I mentally hissed – Sakura had to protect Tazuna. And she did a splendid job at that. By doing … nothing.
But I guessed it put Tazuna at ease that someone was with him permanently while someone tried to kill him. I was vaguely aware that Naruto was explaining his master plan. Why would Zabuza wait and listen? The thought that he was more than generous with his patience to put up with our bullshit talk-no-jutsu went around my very foggy mind again, as if it were supposed to tell me something. Yes, it was a good and unpredictable plan, but he was an assassin. Payed. He should have tried to kill Tazuna at all costs and with his skill succeed as well. Something is fishy. My eye-lids were growing extremely heavy. I'm bleeding to my death.
"Sasuke, Sakura" Kakashi talked on his leveled voice. It's nice to hear him calm and confident again. "Take care of Tazuna-san and Kaya-chan. You have to stop that bleeding. I'll handle things from here."
Oh. I can finally pass out. For a ridiculous second, I wondered how to do that before telling myself that people fainted spontaneously. That's what made fainting dangerous and the whole point of losing consciousness. What the fuck am I thinking…? It seemed that my mind and body finally took pity on me and I lost my balance. Sitting on the ground. Losing my balance. Someone caught me because I didn't slam my head on the hard surface of the ground. I didn't have even the energy to scream when my shoulder shifted.
"Naruto's plan… genius. … Fucking hate swords."
Hello there,
Long time no see. Last time I have published a chapter was 3 years ago? Holy Bingus. Anyway, Hi, Hello, Salut. It's me the writer. I'm bringing back sexy back and random fanfic updates. I don't even know what to say. To the people who are still following updates to this story, I am soo sorry. It took me a while, but thank you for reading. To the people who are just discovering this fanfic, Hi! Yes, 10 chapters in and I say, welcome. But I just don't have the time to re-write the first 10. So, I just roll with them and change what I want to from this point on. I think this is the formative years for Kaya anyway, so the character and story will start to change from this first mission. Because it makes sense, it's the first interaction outside the village, new shinobi, new people, new stories etc. Also, I like long author's notes although I will try to keep the next ones much shorter. In this one I kinda feel the need to explain myself.
I plan on posting a chapter every other week. I can't promise a weekly update. But once two weeks, sounds do-able for now. I'm trying to re-write my other fanfic that has only 2 chapters published at the moment. That one is tricky because it actually requires me to THINK,but if you like Tokyo Ghoul, definitely check that one as well, I will resume updating as soon as I can.
Also, I have some chapters written in advance already for this fic, but I've written them 3 years ago so they need some revising. A lot, actually. I also changed my mind about the direction of Kaya's story and her character as a whole :)))) So, that's something to look forward to
I have revised this chapter today (25/12/2020) and will update it in a day or two? I dunno,but Merry (late) Christmas, and if I won't see you again in a new chapter until 31 dec., a Happy New Year as well. 2020 needs to end right NOW.
See you next chapter!
Oh, btw, the title is a reference to Behemoth's song, Blow your trumpets Gabriel. But, I'm currently reading The Silmarillion, so I had to.