Hey!!! This is chapter 8. Krecier, the drama was a bit unnecessary, yes. But tbh I felt that the standard confession thing is a bit old, and it just came to mind, so I just used that. And I only planned to have Kirito fight Zabuza. There will be other enemies, so don't worry, the girls will have their time.

And maybe you misunderstood, the 'cocky' attitude Kirito had was only during the academy, he fought Zabuza because he is a swordsman and a blacksmith, not because he wanted to show off. I mean, its not everyday he can fight a famed swordsman. Also, Kirito just cannot use chakra the way shinobi do, meaning, he cannot use jutsu or do ninja stuff, but he can use his chakra for sword skills and spells.

To Guest-questioner, you made a good point. To be honest I didn't really thought of the clothes thing, but yeah, she will have other clothes, but I was acty just planning to see what would be needed. For now, she's wearing the Shippuden jumpsuit, but if she does wear other stuff, I will mention it.

And juz in case, most of the 'Naruto' characters are in Shippuden style. Since they are all 16 and around the age in Shippuden.

So yeah. Let's start.

XXX

After the little moment in the room, the five of them went down as the two teams of ninja went out to set up a border.

Kirito decided to stay in the house as they went out.

Tsunami asked, "So, Kirito-san, I'm curious, are you a ninja too?"

Kirito shook his head, "No, I didn't qualify to be one. That's why the other team is here, to guard me on my way to Uzu no Kuni."

Tsunami nodded in understanding, "I see."

Kirito then asked, "So, do you need any help? I mean, the resources here are quite limited, right?"

Tsunami nodded, "Yes, since Gato took over, he has been shipping away all our resources. But, you don't have to worry. We're fine."

Kirito nodded, deciding not pry. Soon, the teams came back from setting the border. Kakashi spoke, "Okay, we're done. By the way, Kirito, Zabuza is not dead."

Kirito blinked, "Seriously?"

Yugao nodded, "Hunter ninja are supposed to dispose of the body on site, regardless of who are present. They also seldom use senbon."

Sinon nodded, "But, the hunter nin we saw used senbon and took away Zabuza's body and his sword."

Kakashi nodded, "Yeah, he's probably Zabuza's accomplice. Besides, we have no idea who else is helping them, it might not be just Zabuza and his fake hunter."

Sasuke grunted, "Hmph, no matter who they are, they are no match against an Uchiha elite like me."

Kakashi and Yugao just ignored the last Uchiha's bragging while the rest just sweatdropped, with Sakura with stars in her eyes.

Kakashi then said, "Okay, let's go training. Kirito, you're coming with us."

The blacksmith blinked, "Wait, why?!"

He was then dragged along by Asuna and Suguha as the two teams went out. As they went out, a young boy wearing a straw hat came down from upstairs and glared at the door before he went up again.

Meanwhile, the fake hunter nin had just finished tending to Zabuza. The hunter nin took out the senbon from the swordsman.

After a few minutes, Zabuza groaned as he woke up, the hunter nin smiled behind the mask, "Zabuza-sama, you're awake."

Zabuza sighed, "Haku, take off the mask."

Haku took off the mask to reveal a feminine face as he smiled. The swordsman sighed, "Why did you interfere?"

Haku looked apologetic, "Sorry, Zabuza-sama, but if you fought any further, you would have died. Even if you won against the black swordsman, you would be too tired against Kakashi and the woman."

Zabuza nodded, "Fine. I guess we'll need to call for help."

Then, the door opened as a short fat man in sunglasses walked in. The man was accompanied by two thugs holding katana. The man said arrogantly, "What's this about calling for help? I guess the Demon of the Mist is just a baby demon."

Zabuza glared at the man, "Gato."

Gato smirked, "Well, I wasn't expecting too much. But since my subordinates have reported that there are two teams, I can understand. So I've called for help for you."

Three men came in. One was black haired and carried two swords. The second one was a brown haired man carrying a long broad sword. The final one was a silver haired man with a small tanto.

Zabuza stared at one of them, "Kurosuki. Its been a while."

The man glared at him, "Yeah, Zabuza. Not a pleasure to see you here. But then, you look roughed up. Did Sharingan no Kakashi give you trouble?"

The man shook his head, "No, I was in a duel before Haku brought me out."

Raiga nodded, "I see. Then at least you didn't lose."

The other man stared at Zabuza, "Hmph, so you didn't lose like Gato said, at least I can wait to see how you Swordsmen of the Mist fight."

Zabuza looked at the man, "Who are you?"

The man smirked, "My name is Kuradeel. It would be a pleasure to meet you, but seeing you in this state is pathetic."

Haku glared at the man, "You should watch what you say."

The final man raised his arms, "Hey, calm down. Mister Kuradeel, please refrain from antagonizing them."

Kuradeel leered at him, "And who are you, smiley?"

The man grinned, "Ichimaru Gin, we all have the same enemies here, I hope that we avoid unnecessary conflict, at least until the mission is over."

Zabuza hmph'd, "So, the Gato hires two of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist and two unknown swordsmen. He has a thing for swords, doesn't he?"

Raiga grinned, "Maybe."

Kuradeel shook his head and sighed, "Well, I'll be off. Tell me when we need to move out."

Gin left the room with a smile while Raiga left wordlessly. As soon as the door closed, Haku frowned, "Zabuza-sama, must we work with them?"

Zabuza nodded, "For now, yes. Raiga doesn't seem to want to kill me. So after we get the money, we bail. Hopefully I can count on the Konoha ninja to kill them."

Haku nodded, "Okay, I'll keep watch, I still have to collect the herbs later."

Back with the team from Konoha, Kakashi said, "Okay, so for now, we will have a full contact sparring session. You six gennin will fight us two Jounin."

The six of them nodded before Suguha asked, "What about Kirito-kun?"

The teen shook his head and raised both arms in a surrendering manner, "I'm not joining. I'm just here to watch."

Sinon sighed, "Lazy ass."

Kirito grinned as Yugao said, "Well, he doesn't have any reason to join us for training. So let's leave it at that."

The gennin nodded as their sensei placed some distance between them. Kakashi spoke, "We'll probably be facing stronger opponents after this, so I want you to get some idea how to fight stronger enemies, like the test I gave you, come at us with the intent to kill."

Team 7 nodded as Team 11 drew their weapons. Kirito sighed, "I guess I can proctor this spar."

The two jounin nodded. Kirito spoke, "Okay, you may start... now!"

Instantly, Asuna, Suguha and Hikari charged forward. Sinon nocked arrows and aimed at the two Jounin while Sasuke and Sakura charged Kakashi.

Yugao blocked a slash from Suguha before she jumped backwards to avoid Asuna's stabs from above. The former Anbu then tilted her body to the left to avoid three arrows from Sinon.

Yugao smirked as she threw a slash at Asuna. The auburn haired girl leaned to the right to dodge the slash and thrust her rapier forward.

Yugao quickly drew her sword back to parry the stab before she pushed their swords up to block a slash from Suguha, "Not bad, I'm impressed."

The two girls grinned before they parted and charged again.

With Kakashi, the man dodged a punch from Sasuke before he leaned back to dodge a knee from Hikari.

Kakashi then leaped to the left to avoid a kick from Sakura. Hikari yelled, "Sakura, Sasuke!"

The two flashed through handseals and yelled, "Katon/Fuuton: Gokakyu no Jutsu/Renkuudan!"

The two Gennin shot out two balls of wind and fire that combined to form a large fireball. Kakashi cursed as he flashed through handseals, "Suiton: Suijinheki!"

He spat out a large torrent of water that rose into a wall. The fire ball slammed into the wall, causing a large amount of steam to rise.

Kakashi's eyes then widened as he heard the familiar sound of the Chidori. He turned to see Hikari charging at him from behind, the girl yelled, "Chidori!".

Kakashi quickly turned and gripped her wrist, slamming her Chidori into the ground, trapping her arm as the jutsu faded. Kakashi eye-smiled, "Good attempt, but using my own jutsu against me, you're still a bit too early."

Hikari growled and flipped, kicking Kakashi in the head as he stumbled backwards.

Kakashi then jumped up to avoid several arrows from Sinon before he continued to fight.

With Kirito, he was impressed. Asuna and Suguha were keeping Yugao busy while Hikari, Sasuke and Sakura were keeping up with Kakashi as Sinon would rotate between shooting Yugao and Kakashi. Granted the two Jounin weren't going all out, but it was still impressive.

Kirito thought they did quite well as the eight of them continued to spar, which would later end with a draw. Something then caught his eyes, moving in the bushes.

The blacksmith grinned as he reached to his pouch, taking out sharp nails. He channeled chakra into them as they glowed. Then he threw.

Later, when they finished training, the nine of them went back to Tazuna's house. In Kirito's hands were a pair of rabbits, the teen feeling satisfied as it wasn't just any kind of rabbits.

They were rare rabbits that could be considered the best rabbit to be eaten, the ragout rabbit. The girls, however, thought it was cruel for the rabbits.

Suguha pouted, "Kirito-kun, you didn't have to kill them."

The other girls nodded. Kirito chuckled, "Hey, its rare enough to see these in our country, I couldn't pass up the chance."

Kakashi nodded, "True, a ragout rabbit in itself costs a fortune. To even catch two of these is a godsend."

Yugao agreed, "I never in my life would have thought to see a live ragout rabbit."

Hikari pouted, "But its still cruel."

Kirito grinned, "Then you don't have to eat it."

The four girls protested, "We didn't say that."

Sinon looked away, "Well, since you caught it, we might as well just eat it."

Sakura didn't bother to say anything as she was grossed out while Sasuke just stayed quiet, brooding to himself.

As they entered the house, Kirito quickly walked to the kitchen to see Tsunami getting ready to cook, "Tsunami-san, look at this."

The woman turned and her eyes widened, "Are those?"

Kirito grinned, "Yeah, ragout rabbits. The legendary S-class meat."

Tsunami smiled, "Well, then that takes care of tonight's meat."

Kirito nodded, "Let me help, I was thinking of making a stew out of these."

The woman nodded as Kirito took off his coat and started to help her cook.

Outside of the kitchen, Kakashi was surprised, "Kirito can cook?"

Asuna nodded, "Yes, he learned under Teuchi-ojisan to cook."

Yugao smiled, "He can cook, he can forge and fight, a very nice catch, don't you think, girls?"

The girls just blushed slightly as they looked away. Sakura thought, 'At least I have less competition this way.'

Sasuke just brooded as he stared at Hikari. Kakashi then asked, "Hikari, how is it going with the first step?"

The girl nodded, "I've almost figured it out. I just need to get my chakra flowing in all directions."

Kakashi nodded, "Good, keep up with it. If you need help, don't hesitate to ask."

Hikari nodded. Then Asuna pondered, "You know, I wonder how strong Kirito-kun actually is."

Everyone looked at the auburn haired girl. Asuna blinked, "What? Don't tell me you all aren't curious, I mean he fought toe to toe against Zabuza in all out kenjutsu-only fight. Even though they were holding back."

Yugao nodded, "That is true. We know he cannot use chakra, so its interesting that he could fight like that."

Before they could continue, a boy's voice spoke coldly, "Why bother? You're all just gonna die anyways."

Everyone turned to see a young boy wearing a straw hat walking down. Sakura glared at him, "What was that?"

The boy huffed, "Gato is unstoppable. If you try to fight, he'll just kill you all."

Kakashi chuckled, "I see, but we are all quite strong, you know? Gato may have an army, but they're all thugs, right?"

The boy huffed and just walked out of the house. Sakura grumbled, "What is his problem?"

Sinon sighed, "Sakura, are you fighting with kids now?"

Suguha nodded, "He has that look, that he lost someone important. I mean, Sasuke would know, right?"

Sasuke grunted, "Yeah, but it has nothing to do with us."

A while later, the table was full with food. Kirito grinned, "Well, the ingredients were a bit limited, so I had to get some in the forest and the town. I wasn't sure about the herbs, but they turned out well."

Tsunami smiled and nodded. Tazuna marvelled at the amount of food, "You mean you got ingredients from the town and the forest to make these?"

Kirito nodded as Tsunami said, "Well, Kirito-san paid and got most of the ingredients, I just helped to cook."

Everyone nodded as they went to eat. As they took a bite of the stew, Kirito sighed in satisfaction, "Wow, this meat, as expected of the legendary rabbit. Its tender even in a stew, but... I think it needs more spice..."

He then turned to see everyone's surprised faces as they bit into the rabbit meat. Kirito chuckled as the others got over their shock and continued to eat.

Then as they ate, Kakashi asked, "So, Tazuna-san, how's the bridge coming?"

The man sighed, "At this rate, we might not even finish it in a month. More and more of the workers are bailing out of fear for Gato."

Everyone nodded before Kirito suggested, "Well, then we can just go kill him."

Everyone looked at him as he continued, "I mean, your mission is to protect Tazuna, right? Gato is a threat, thus should be eliminated, besides, its not like you haven't done any assassination missions, Kakashi, Yugao-san."

The two jounin looked at each other and shook their heads. Yugao spoke, "Its too risky, we do not know who is with Gato, it might fail epically."

Kirito nodded, "I see."

Then before anyone could continue, Inari slammed his hands on the table, "Why are you all still trying so hard?! You're just gonna die!"

Sakura glared at the boy, "Hey, how can you say stuff like that?"

Inari glared at the people from Konoha, "No matter how hard you try, you'll all just fail! You all don't know about suffering! You should just go back to your cozy homes!"

The boy turned to leave before Hikari's voice stopped him, "So, everything we've done until now, it was all in vain? Everything Kirito-kun did for us, everything we did to become ninja, it's all useless?"

The girl stood up and looked at Inari, "And sufferings, maybe you're right, we do not understand your sufferings, but, at the very least, you had your mother and grandfather with you. You have a house like this."

Inari turned and yelled at the blonde, "Gato took away my father! My father fought against him, but all it did was kill him."

The blonde stared him straight in the eye, "So are you going to keep hiding in fear? Are you going to dishonor him by letting his sacrifice be useless?"

Inari glared at her, tears running down his face, "You wouldn't undertand! You never lost someone important!"

Inari tried to turn to leave, but Hikari's voice stopped him again, "If you leave, then consider yourself a coward for life."

Inari's eyes widened as he stood there clenching his fists. Hikari continued, her voice softening, "I never lost my father, I never knew him, or my mother. All I had were Kirito-kun, Asuna-chan, Sinon-chan and Suguha-chan."

The girl walked over to the boy and held his shoulders, "I know that you're suffering, but, if you give up, then everything will be over. As long as you don't give up, then you'll have already won, all you need to do is just finish it."

Inari nodded as he listened to her words. Hikari finished, "Do you get that?"

The boy nodded, "I'm sorry. I didn't think about it."

Hikari nodded, "Its okay, now, let's get back to eat."

Inari nodded as he sat down. Kakashi blinked, "Wow, who knew Hikari would be so good with kids? She's a keeper, Kirito."

Kirito chuckled as Hikari blushed. The rest just deadpanned at the scarecrow as Sasuke fumed. Kakashi looked back at them, "What? I was just tryin to lighten up the atmosphere."

Tazuna sighed before he looked at Inari, "So, do you understand why I build the bridge now?"

The boy nodded, "I'm sorry, Jii-chan."

Tazuna nodded, smiling as he ruffled the kid's hair. After that, they just continued eating.

Later at night, everyone had slept. Kirito, Kakashi, Yugao and Sasuke decided to sleep on the sofa, in case anyone came for them at night while the four girls slept in the spare room.

Hikari sat on top if the roof. She thought about Inari's words earlier, even though she knew Inari was just a kid and she didn't let it show too much, it still struck a cord in her.

She was brought out of her musings when Kirito's voice, "What's wrong? Can't sleep?"

Hikari turned to see the teen, "Yeah."

Kirito sat down beside her, "After this, we'll head to Uzu no Kuni. If we're lucky, we might find one of those family tree scrolls."

Hikari asked, "Family tree scrolls?"

Kirito nodded, "You clan is known to have used seals on everything. The family tree scroll is one of them. Every scroll is linked together by seals, as long as chakra is supplied, it can show the family members of the clan."

Hikari nodded, "I see. To be honest, I'm a bit scared. What if my parents are still alive and they abandoned me?"

Kirito embraced her, "Don't worry, no matter, you have me, Asuna-chan, Suguha-chan and Sinon-chan. We won't leave you."

Hikari nodded before she asked, "By the way, how strong actually are you?"

Kirito blinked and let go of the girl, "What brought this up?"

Hikari looked at her boyfriend, "Well, you fought against Zabuza, so I'm a bit curious."

Kirito grinned, "Well, I'm not sure. Kayaba-sensei said I can fight jounin level opponents, so maybe around there?"

Hikari nodded before she realized something, "How did you get up here anyway?"

Kirito just smiled, "I climbed. So I'll need you to carry me back down."

Hikari sighed, "Idiot, fine. I still wanna stay here for a while."

Kirito nodded as they sat there, enjoying each other's presence.

A while later, the two went back down to see Asuna, Sinon and Suguha staring at them. Sinon spoke, "So, what were the two of you doing up there?"

Suguha smiled mischievously, "Hikari-chan, you're really devious, making a move before us."

Hikari blushed, "Its not what you think! We just talked!"

Kirito chuckled, "Yeah, but Hikari-chan, why are you getting embarrassed? Its not like we can't, or do you not want to?"

Hikari's blush intensified as she stomped back to the room, "I'm going to sleep!"

Kirito chuckled and he looked at the other girls, "Well, you girls should also go to sleep. I'm going down."

The girls nodded and gave him a kiss on the cheek, "Oyasumi, Kirito-kun."

The girls then went back to the room as the blacksmith walked down.

The next day, the teams decided to rotate guarding Tazuna on the bridge. As Yugao and team 11 were guarding Tazuna, Kakashi and Kirito were talking outside Tazuna's house.

The cyclops said, "At this rate, Zabuza might be back with his allies in a few days, maybe 5 days."

Kirito nodded, "Yeah."

Kakashi looked at the blacksmith, "I don't want to ask you this, but, in case there are other enemies, I want you to take Zabuza."

Kirito nodded, "Fine with me. I still have to finish my duel with him."

Meanwhile, Hikari was training in the forests alone. She flashed through handseals and pushed her hands downwards, "Chidori!"

The girl charged and slammed her lightning clad arm into a tree, fully piercing it as she pulled it out, leaving a hole in it.

Hikari nodded in satisfaction, "Okay, next is a boulder."

The girl then started to walk around, looking for a boulder. As she walked, she saw a figure picking up what seemed to be flowers.

Hikari walked to the figure and asked curiously, "Hello, what are you doing?"

The figure jumped in surprise and turned to see the twin-tailed blonde. The figure appeared to be a young girl wearing a kimono.

The 'girl' spoke, "Hi, umm, I was just picking up herbs."

Hikari smiled, "I see. What are they for? I mean, its unusual to see someone in the forest like this. Are you from the village?"

The 'girl' shook 'her' head, "I'm not from the village. I'm just here for a short while. And the herbs are for my... uncle. He's a bit sick."

Hikari nodded, "Oh, I see. By the way, who are you?"

The 'girl' smiled, "Haku. You're a ninja, aren't you?"

Hikari beamed, "Yes, my name's Hikari. I was actually looking for a boulder for training."

Haku blinked, "A boulder? Why? You look strong enough."

The Uzumaki giggled, "Maybe I look the part, but I'm not strong enough yet. I'm still just a gennin after all."

Haku nodded, "I see. I'm curious though, why do you fight?"

Hikari blinked, "Why do I fight?"

Haku nodded, "Yes, I believe that fighting for someone important to you will truly make you strong. So I was curious."

The last Uzumaki nodded, "I see. You're right, I'm also fighting to protect someone, or rather, my family."

Haku smiled, "That's good. Then you will become strong."

Hikari grinned, "Thanks."

Haku then turned, "Well, it was nice talking to you. I have to leave, I've picked up what I needed."

Hikari nodded, "Me too."

Haku then spoke, "By the way, I'm a guy. Have a good day."

Hikari blinked as the feminine guy left the area, "W-what?!"

Haku chuckled as he heard the loud blonde, 'She was quite interesting, I hope we don't meet on the battlefield, Hikari-san.'

The next few days, the teams rotated training and guarding Tazuna. After 5 days, in Tazuna's house, Kakashi said, "Zabuza and his allies should be coming around now. We must be more careful."

Yugao nodded, "We should also have someone guard the house. Maybe Sasuke and Sakura, in case anyone targets them."

Sakura was glad she didn't need to go out while Sasuke fumed a bit that he couldn't go, but still accepted it regardless. Kakashi then looked at Kirito, "I don't know about you, since you're a client as well, so its fine if you want to follow or not."

Kirito grinned, "Well, I still have an unfinished duel with Zabuza."

The two jounin nodded as Kakashi nodded to team 11 and Hikari, "Okay, we'll be moving out now, be wary of your surroundings."

The seven of them, along with Tazuna, then moved out of the house for the bridge.

As they headed for the bridge, it was already filled with mist. None of the workers were there.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes, "Careful, they're here."

The mist cleared slightly to reveal five figures waiting for them.

XXX

Done. Sorry but this was a bit short. The next chapter will be the fights, and maybe the trip to the ruins of Uzushiogakure. Review please.