"Jounin Kakashi Hatake, you stand before this court today due to your actions on C-rank mission 347-569 of this year, escorting the bridge builder Tazuna back to the land of waves. You have been accused of misconduct and stand before us today on charges of insubordination, wilfully endangering your genin team against the rules stated in the Konoha mission code and ultimately the death of one of your charges…" The man speaking was an opulent and slightly overweight civilian in his mid-forties that Kakashi didn't recognise on sight, which was hardly surprising all things considered, Kakashi was by no meaning of the term a social person. He was clearly speaking because he loved the sound of his voice considering the other two council members were clearly bored with his version of events, the head council member for the hearing making this clear as he turned to the man and unleashed the sarcastic drawl his clan were famous for.
"Judge Masori, if you would be so kind to stop being troublesome and inventing charges for us to investigate. We are going to be here long enough as it is without any further difficulties. Choza, are you up to date with the basics of the case or do you need a little longer? The Hokage want's Genin Uzumaki's demise dealt with as soon as possible." Kakashi wasn't sure whether having two members of the famous 'Cheat Team' on the panel for his hearing was good for him or not. Whilst the Nara and Akimichi clan heads were well known for their intelligence and non-bias, if one of the two didn't agree with what he had done over the last month then they could bring the other round to their thinking without much difficulty.
Not that there was anything to be done now as Choza nodded and laid down the file he had been reading with an air of finality. Shikaku Nara turned his gaze to Kakashi for the first time since the Copy Ninja had entered the room twenty minutes beforehand and Kakashi had to admit, when the man wanted to look intimidating he really could pull it off.
"So, let's get this thing started otherwise it will take days to get things sorted. We are here to review the events of mission code designation 347-569, C-rank escort mission to Wave country of the bridge builder Tazuna, accepted and completed by Team 7 under Kakashi Hatake, Jounin of Konoha. The presiding council members are Judge Xou Masori, Jounin Shikaku Nara and Reserve Jounin Choza Akimichi. Do you wish to inform the panel of anything before we begin Jounin Kakashi?" Kakashi shook his head negatively, trying to change the panels minds at this early stage would be of no use and might hasten them towards a decision. And that wouldn't do at all he thought almost mockingly, looking at the clock above the judge panel, his little 'dead' mouse would need some more time to dig up the best cookie crumbs after all...
Time: An hour before
Persona: Naruto Uzumaki
Pulling himself up the wall with a small grunt, Naruto wished he didn't have to do this much activity right after being declared officially dead for the third time since his grieving team had been returned to Konoha. Every civilian who could think up a good enough excuse had come to have a gloat over his corpse before the burial had taken place, he made sure to remember the voices he had heard so that when this thing was all over he could exact a suitable revenge. He was brought back to reality once more by the sharp pain from his chest and stomach, he could swear the clambering and sneaking through the outer grounds of the Masori residence had caused him to tear a couple of stitches and recently closed wounds. And that wasn't mentioning the 6 mile run from the Konoha front gate to get here and the necessary subterfuge to avoid both the guards and those watching his team members.
Though it could be worse he thought, as he turned round to help the struggling Sakura reach the top of the wall, he could not be a stamina freak that didn't get tired and survive injuries that would kill a normal man a dozen times over. Letting the red faced girl drop to her knees for a moment to catch her breath, Naruto cast his eye around the compound with a critical eye. He had obtained quite a lot of information on the place before they had snuck in, the layout certainly seemed the same as the blueprints his aerial recon clones had provided. The Masori family were well connected both in Konoha politics and in the economy, owning quite a few rented buildings, restaurants and utility companies.
How they got so wealthy is something that Naruto knew had been involved in more than one whispered market conversation, not that anything had been found and considering how much wealth the Masori's had invested into Konoha since the Kyuubi attack, the ninja hadn't really been that interested in trying too hard to upset one of their main economic benefactors.
But on the rather disastrous mission to Wave Naruto and his team had found out some information that proved that the Masori clan head had gotten into things that couldn't be ignored any longer. And to think that Naruto had initially been so happy about the chance to leave the village on a mission again...
*Flashback*
Everything was ready, which surprised even Naruto slightly as he and Umi headed towards the meeting point with his team. The twins were at school after a big goodbye meal at Ichikaru's the night before, Tenten and Lee had given him one last spar each and some training advice for the long walk to Wave and Jiji knew because he had given team 7 the mission. Nami had seemed almost a little nervous when he had met her the night before and told her about the mission, but refused to elaborate other than to tell him to be careful. Shaking off the thoughts as Umi nudged him questioningly; he smiled at her before talking quietly.
"Are you going to be okay whilst I am gone? I left a dozen clones at the apartment with some recharging seals on them. That should be enough right…" He cut off when she wrapped an arm round his waist and drew in a little closer whilst shaking her head with a smile.
"I will be fine Naruto-kun, besides Nami will be popping in every other day to keep me and the twins company. You really have gotten her to open up from when we first met, you truly are someone people can feel comfortable with." Naruto could feel his face heat up slightly at the compliment, he had long begun to disassociate Umi from being one of his shadow clones and he could tell that she now no longer thought of him as 'boss' or anything similar.
"Thanks Umi-chan, though keep trying with her whilst I am gone, maybe we can get a full unforced laugh out of her soon." The two burst into laughter of their own at that thought, only really calming down as the gate came into view along with two of those he was meant to be meeting.
Their client had introduced himself as 'the awesome bridge builder Tazuna', but considering he was dressed as a simple peasant with alcohol stains covering his shirt, several types from what Naruto's nose could detect even at this distance, Naruto wondered how much of the man's boasting he could believe. The man's constant paranoid and belittling nature didn't help either, though Naruto was too happy to get out of the village on a mission that he would get paid for to complain too much.
Sakura was sat a short distance from the obviously inebriated man, obviously not wanting to get too close to the man. She had packed and left before he had finished having breakfast, which considering it had been at 6 am for a 7am meeting was interesting in and about itself. She had been more and more evasive of spending time with Naruto and the others recently, though she seemed to have no problem with him on missions. He had been perplexed by it all and when he had asked Umi she had simply patted him on the head like a dog before changing the subject. Deciding some battles were not worth losing again, Naruto simply raised his hand and waved enthusiastically towards the pinkette.
"Sakura-chan! All ready to go on another awesome adventure?" Sakura chuckled even as she waved a lot more demurely back.
"Naruto-k.. Naruto, I highly doubt that this mission will be any more interesting than the one to the Land of Rice and nothing happened there." Naruto didn't even pause before he replied with his usual enthusiasm.
"Are you kidding Sakura-chan? We got loads of good training, some good fights with Tenten-chan and her team and we even got to see some foreign ninja. Now the only way it can get any better than that is if there are some awesome jutsu battles atop a windy mountain whilst rescuing a princess." As he said that, Naruto felt a chill run up his spine, but he shook off the feeling as just a breeze whilst Umi giggled at his comments before replying.
"Naruto, you better not get in any trouble again, if you return in the same manner after bringing Aiko and Yuna back I will not be happy. Sakura-san, I trust you will make sure that he doesn't do anything too… Naruto like." Naruto frowned slightly at that, both due to the comment about him as well as Umi's almost cold manner towards Sakura. The two had been, different, around each other ever since Sakura had moved into his apartment block, and Naruto wondered what his clone was hoping to accomplish with such an attitude. Still it wasn't something to concentrate on right now, Sasuke appearing over the roof tops to land nearby, rucksack in place as Sakura moved over to welcome him.
"Sasuke-kun, you are here!" Seeing the girl fawn over the brooding Uchiha hurt more than Naruto thought it would, but he reconciled that it was nowhere near the levels of fan worship she and the other girls had been known for in the academy. As Kakashi appeared, Naruto was surprised they weren't going to be kept waiting by the normal tardy man, but he supposed with the client there it was Konoha's image he was upholding now, as opposed to his own. They headed toward the gate without another word, Umi merely pulling him into a big hug and a chaste kiss before waving him on his way.
He had to admit, things were going fairly well with his punishment to be done by the end of the mission, Sakura-chan was smiling as she moved up beside him and they were off for a fun adventure. After all, nothing could go wrong on a simple C-rank mission right?
*End Flashback*
That was a sentiment that looking back had Naruto kicking himself for his naivety, but hindsight was a cruel thing and there were more important things to focus on now as voices alerted him to the imminent arrival of trouble. Grabbing the still breathless Sakura, Naruto leapt down into the shadow of the inner facing side of the wall. Moments later a pair of guards stepped out of the guard tower they had come up next to, speaking excitedly to each other as they passed overhead.
"We better hurry up now Yoshi, because you were ogling those girls who wanted directions to the hot springs we are behind on our patrol route, the captain will kill us if he finds out." The other guard, Yoshi, replied but his response was muffled as they moved away at a hurried pace. Naruto waited until the noise had completely faded before he chuckled to himself and removed his hand from a red faced Sakura's mouth.
"Told you the distraction was a good idea Sakura-chan, those idiots would have caught us otherwise dattebayo." Sakura huffed as she hauled herself to her feet and glared in his direction.
"I wasn't opposed to the idea but rather the fact you had to use those henges to pull it off." Naruto blushed slightly as he knew what she was hinting at. The girls that the guards had been stopped by were in fact a trio of Naruto clones he had henged, but when the clones had transformed they had obviously been using his friends as inspiration, the older Sakura, Naruko and Umi dressed in bikini's had left Naruto with a small perverted smile and a new bruise on the top of his head.
"Sorry Sakura-chan but I didn't want to risk using the technique again in case there were chakra sensing seals that we didn't know about on the outskirts of the estate. Now, this way Sakura-chan before the interior patrol gets here, we can rest again when we get to the main building." Sakura groaned but nodded and the two ghosted into the main part of the estate, slipping round the two patrols in their path using the trees and bushes that were a part of the rather impressive and picturesque gardens that populated the rise from the outer walls to the main complex.
The main complex was a fairly intimidating sight as Naruto hauled himself hurriedly up the side of the main guard building, the private buildings that Judge Masori was known to have been in residence in the day before was separate from the servant and guard quarters. Something that Naruto knew would be advantageous for their little infiltration as Masori was known to be paranoid about his dealings, meaning that none of the patrols would be patrolling the building they were targeting. So they would be in no rush once they had made it inside.
No biggy then Naruto thought as he turned around and dropped the rope back down to Sakura before pulling her up into the lee of the rooftop and out of sight. It took another ten minutes to pick a suitable point in the guard patrol schedule for them to scramble across to the roof of the Masori main building and into the top floor using a window that Naruto remembered would lead directly into the corridor leading to the main study. It turned out he was right about where the window lead to as he jumped down into the wide wooden corridor, Sakura following in a moment later even as Naruto's ears picked up the loud footsteps from behind them. Turning round as the footsteps came to a sudden stop Naruto found himself facing a giant of a man dressed in light combat armour and Masori clan fatigues.
"Well well, it seems that there are a couple of little bugs trying to cause trouble to Ronin-sama's operations..." The only thought that passed through Naruto's head as he drew a kunai in readiness was a hope that Kakashi-sensei was having an easier time holding Judge Masori up...
Persona- Kakashi Hatake
As he finished the description of the demon brother's attack on the group, Kakashi was not surprised to see Shikaku looking shrewdly at him even as he continued to make notes on the case.
"So you allowed yourself to be attacked and 'killed', leaving your newly graduated, unbloodied, genin team to fight two chuunin level missing ninja in the hope that they would reveal their target to be your client? If it hadn't been for Genin Uzumaki and his forethought with his clones then Genin Haruno would have been torn to pieces... Not the best start to a mission report Jounin Hatake. And from your report you then continued the mission despite the obvious threat of a more powerful missing ninja down the road. Though given the Konoha guidelines on mission parameters after our losses to the Kyuubi, it is not something that can be considered misconduct as you got your genin to persuade you to continue, showing that they were willing to risk their lives of their own accord to complete the mission." Shikaku took a breath here but Choza continued without the slightest pause, the bulky man showing his familiarity with the Nara's analytical insight.
"I have a few questions before we continue with your recounting of the story Kakashi, firstly to do with the clones Genin Uzumaki must have had set up around your group before the attack took place in order to use to save Genin Haruno. Was that something you had worked with him on as a team tactic? Or was it an idea that he had come up with himself? From Genin Haruno's report it was completely unexpected." It was that question that let Kakashi know who in the room the Hokage had trusted with the information about Naruto's survival and the true aim of the judiciary meeting, even as Masori spoke up imperiously.
"Why does it matter? The brat is dead and Kakashi is the one on trial here." Masori's tone made it clear that he thought they should be putting Naruto on trial even with his 'death'. Shikaku was much more controlled with his reaction to the odd question, the slightest of confused glances in Choza's direction the only sign that he did not understand where the line of questioning was going even as Kakashi responded.
"It was a tactic that he suggested a couple of weeks after our genin test and the unfortunate training accident that occurred during it. We had been working in private with his clones to perfect his replacement technique before bringing the other members of the group into the idea due to the... Differences between two of the members." Kakashi was referring to Sasuke and Naruto's rivalry and the fact that the Uchiha pride would not accept help from the 'Dobe' of the group. It was a character flaw the boy was no doubt regretting from his hospital bed as he didn't know the truth of Naruto's survival either. Shikaku nodded his head in understanding, obviously assuming that the question had been to clarify the secrecy of the tactic and nothing more. But how many more questions would it take before the legendary mind realised there was something else afoot that he wasn't aware of? Probably not long and then it was just a question of working out what the missing pieces could be. Kakashi was drawn from his musing by Masori asking his first pertinent question of the case.
"But why did you not call for back up there and then? You were two days walk from Konoha and just over the border with wave country, that's less than three hours travel for a chuunin team to come and back you up. It was almost a week later when Uzumaki's orphan friend came forward with the information that your team was in trouble." Kakashi couldn't help the fractional narrowing of his visible eye at the very accurate travel time Masori had given for the distance, not the sort of thing a civilian should have known off the top of his head and supporting the gut feeling that had been growing for a while since the events in Wave. The next moment his eye smile was back in place even as he nodded his head.
"But I did send for backup, in addition for a clean-up crew to come and collect the demon brothers for further interrogation. Three homing pigeons from my storage scrolls in fact, released every ten minutes as we continued onwards as is standard practice. It was only when we encountered Zabuza without any further news or information about backup that I realised how dangerous the situation had gotten. If Naruto hadn't had those clones acting as guards for Umi, well I imagine I wouldn't be stood here now would I?" Shikaku looked at him appraisingly for a moment before gesturing to a report in front of him.
"Due to his extensive injuries that occurred on the mission itself, genin Uchiha could not come and provide verbal testimony for this council. However a recorded testimony was transcribed from his memories both by him physically and by chuunin Yuka Yamanaka on my request. The testimony describes the following days as such...
Persona- Sasuke Uchiha
It had been two days travel since the attempted ambush by the demon brothers and Sasuke would be the first to admit that he was restless for another chance to measure his ability. They had reached the small ocean channel that separated the cluster of Islands that made up the majority of Wave Country. Tazuna had directed them to a rather dilapidated fishing village where they had met with a peasant who would provide them with transport to the main island, judging by the obvious secrecy being used the situation was as bad if not worse.
Looking across to where the dobe was doing his best to flip the small boat they were crossing in, speaking animatedly with a mostly recovered Sakura in an obvious attempt to raise her spirits, Sasuke almost told him to be quiet. Sasuke couldn't help the envy that sparked inside him as he remembered the surprisingly serious faced blonde and his horde of clones methodically taking down a chuunin level ninja with little to no help. Whilst all Sasuke had managed was to keep his opponent busy until Kakashi interfered and knocked him out almost without the slightest effort.
Such power and it was wasted on the blonde who never seemed to take anything seriously, instead of him, the man who would avenge his clan! As quickly as the envy had built up however it vanished as Sasuke forced down the dark thoughts, he could not afford to be distracted from the mission, especially given that the peasant man had warned that they could be attacked at any minute. A muffled gasp from Naruto made Sasuke look up as a shadow fell over them, his sharp eyes easily piercing the fog and making out the structure and grandeur of the bridge they were passing underneath.
It was easily the largest building that Sasuke had ever seen, if Tazuna had designed and built this then his boasts were perhaps not as hollow as Sasuke had first imagined upon meeting the poorly dressed and unhygienic client. It was easy to understand why the people of the country were unable to pay for a higher ranked mission then if they had already funded this monstrosity. Another five minutes of subdued muttering from the blonde of the party and they finally reached the island, the ninja leaping to the shore whilst Tazuna waded from knee deep with practised ease that obviously came with growing up as an islander. The boatman bid them a hasty farewell.
They had barely been travelling for five minutes before Naruto suddenly became silent mid-sentence, hands flying to the seal that Sasuke was very quickly coming to recognise as being associated with trouble. The next second in a plume of smoke there were more than a dozen clones who split off and rushed into the woods that surrounded the track they were walking on. Sasuke palmed a kunai even as Kakashi strode up to where the blonde was stood, for all of his faults and there were many, the dobe had good instincts for danger.
"Mao Mao, what's all the fuss about Naruto-kun?" Despite Kakashi's seemingly relaxed attitude Sasuke could tell the jounin had sensed something as well, body posture straighter and at the ready, both hands out of his pockets and Icha Icha nowhere in sight.
"I caught something, it was the crunch of someone landing on a damaged branch. My clones can't find anything though which means they are either better at hiding than I am at tracking or they have backed off." Crunch of someone landing on a branch? Sasuke almost scoffed at the stupidity of the 'threat', but better to be safe than lying in a ditch with a kunai stuck in your back. Kakashi relaxed ever so surreptitiously, sliding his left hand into his pocket whilst his right went up to mess up Naruto's already unruly hairstyle.
"Well done for being attentive Naruto-kun, keep your clones out and we will keep moving, otherwise we will never reach Tazuna-san's house." The blonde batted the hand away with a grumble but said nothing more. As they continued moving Sasuke could just sense a couple of the clones as they moved through the undergrowth around them, and he had to admit it was good training to keep track of different people who were hiding at the same time all around him. He had gotten to the point of keeping track of where five of the clones were at any one time when Naruto suddenly flung a kunai out to their left, three other kunai joining it from different trajectories before embedding themselves into one of the big trees just beyond the undergrowth line. Sakura was the one to speak up, Sasuke scanning the rest of the area in case whoever Naruto and his clones had sensed had replaced themselves and were now readying an attack from somewhere else.
"What was that Naruto? Was there someone there?" Naruto gestured for silence before making the sign for four, which obviously meant something to the clones as one of them jumped down with axe drawn and moved towards the area where the kunai had been thrown. Dropping out sight for a few moments the clone then reappeared with a rabbit of all things, which had a light cut along its back and probably why the thing looked absolutely terrified.
"Someone was there boss, probably used the rabbit for a replacement in an attempt to throw us off but the bunny was cut by a kunai even though they were all thrown at least a foot over where I found it on the floor, meaning it was switched with someone much taller and got hit as it fell to the flo..." Whatever the clone was going to say next was muffled by Sasuke's danger sense going off and alerting him to the sound of something flying towards them, something big... Turning in the direction of where he heard the noise, kunai raised ready to deflect it if necessary, Sasuke just had time to marvel at the sheer size of the blade slicing almost silently towards them before being bodily tackled to the ground.
Seeing a blonde mop lying on top of him Sasuke realised that the blonde probably thought he had frozen up like Sakura had with the demon brothers. He hadn't of course, but the blonde still probably saved his life as the blade cut through the air the group had been occupying moments before. Jumping to his feet Sasuke caught the sight of a headless orange jacketed corpse stood where Sakura had been before it burst into smoke, whilst Kakashi had covered the client in a similar way to what Naruto had done with him. Sasuke followed the trajectory of the blade as it embedded itself deeply into one of the large trees overlooking a modest lake covered in algae, marvelling at the size of the blade which easily dwarfed him in stature. If that wasn't enough, the figure that landed on it a moment later screamed 'power' and danger to Sasuke even before he spoke, mouth covered by white cloth that did nothing to mute the voice that echoed across to the Konoha ninja.
"The legendary Copy-ninja Kakashi, no wonder the Demon brothers failed in their task. I suppose I can't persuade you to just hand over the bridge builder and be on your way?" It was obvious that whoever the new arrival was had put Kakashi on edge even as he chuckled and shook his head before replying in his best level tone.
"Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of the hidden Mist himself, I should have realised it would be you next given the bingo book information about the demon brothers. Tazuna-San is with us I am afraid and I think he prefers things that way, hope you aren't too disappointed." The newly named Zabuza gave a dark chuckle and crouched whilst forming a seal, the mist around them thickening impossibly quickly and making the air even heavier than before, shielding the missing ninja from view.
"You had better use your Sharingan here Kakashi, without all of your little tricks you will fall to my blade. Who will protect your little students then?" Sasuke had a kunai out even as a Naruto clone landed next to the original with a rather pale Sakura in a half carry to his left. Suddenly the malicious feeling that had been in the back of Sasuke's mind became overwhelmingly strong, forcing Sasuke to fall to one knee whilst Sakura threw up before falling to her knees under the weight of killing intent bearing down upon them.
"Larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular, subclavian artery, kidneys, heart. The bread and butter target areas of a shinobi following the path of silent killing. Each of these areas, if hit correctly guarantees the death of the target, the only differences are the length and level of pain that comes with it. Now, which will be my attack points?" It was worse than anything Sasuke had felt before, images of his death flashing through his mind's eye. Each word Zabuza spoke seemed to make the intent that much sharper and deadlier, making Sasuke want to whirl around as in his mind Zabuza was already there, about to cut him down.
The lower, more primal, part of his brain jumped straight through fight or flight, screaming at him to take the kunai in his hand and end it, anything to get away from the oppressive feeling. Just as the urge began to overwhelm his rational mind Sasuke felt a hand land on his shoulder in a comforting manner even as the weight was lifted, no washed away was more accurate a term under the strength of another feeling, lighter and much less oppressive. Looking up Sasuke saw it was Kakashi that had grabbed him by the shoulder, face serious as he kept peering around.
"Do not worry Sasuke, I will not let any of my cute students die. Well done by the way dispelling the killing intent Naruto." The last comment caused Sasuke to twist his head to see Naruto stood over an unmoving Sakura with a visible blue aura of chakra billowing out from his body. Zabuza spoke once more, obviously using a technique of some sort to distort his voice as it seemed to come from all around them at once.
"Don't make promises you can't keep Hatake, it may end up coming back to haunt you!" It was like watching a ghost, Zabuza seeming to appear behind Naruto without causing so much as a ripple in the surrounding mist, giant blade swinging down in a deadly arc. Sasuke didn't know how Naruto knew but the blonde turned in time to deflect the sword off to his right, the axe blade chipping badly as it met the sword edge. Kakashi hadn't been idle, rushing forwards in a blur to block Zabuza's second swing at Naruto with a long kunai whilst the blonde hurriedly summoned a pair of clones. As Kakashi broke the deadlock and swiped at the missing-ninja, Zabuza jumped backwards disappearing into the mist once more, eerie voice speaking out once more.
"The blonde one has good instincts, obviously I cannot play around with you or your genin here Hatake, but you are in my element now. You cannot protect both the bridge builder and your team forever, I wonder in the end who the son of the white fang will decide is worth protecting..." Sasuke was unsure about what the white fang reference was referring to but it was clear that it had hit a nerve with Kakashi who let out a low growl before calling out.
"Team, manji formation around the client, I will deal with Zabuza. Naruto, I want clones spread out into the mist, I need eyes and ears for when he attacks." Sakura had somewhat recovered from the killing intent now and was able to stand under her own power albeit somewhat shakily after all three of them rushed to surround Tazuna, one of Naruto's clones taking the fourth position of the diamond defence. Naruto formed a hand seal and whispered his jutsu, a dozen clones coming into existence and spreading in all directions whilst Sasuke palmed another kunai and closed his eyes, listening for any odd sounds in the mist that might alert him to Zabuza's presence.
There was a cry and a muffled poof off to his left, obviously Zabuza had decided to start with the clone problem before attacking the main group. Sasuke smirked as Naruto quickly summoned another dozen clones which rushed off into the area of the attack as quietly as they could, if there was one thing the dobe did provide for the squad, it was almost limitless manpower. This time there was a clash of weapons before the poofs began again, Sasuke listening in to each one in an attempt to get a read on, wait! It had been the slightest whoosh of air being parted behind him that made Sasuke turn away from the little duel even as Naruto sent more clones into the fray, looking to his right just in time to see Zabuza appear between him and Tazuna.
It was too late for Sasuke to do anything other than throw a kunai, it was too late to save Tazuna but at least he could injure or kill their attacker. With a meaty squelch Zabuza's giant blade cleaved the old bridge builder in two, sending gore everywhere even as Sasuke's kunai embedded itself in Zabuza's lower back. There was a moment of awkward silence as Kakashi appeared in a burst of speed ready to stab Zabuza, before Tazuna's body turned into chakra smoke whilst the Zabuza collapsed into a puddle of water.
"And here I thought I had just won our little engagement Kakashi, I must say that blonde of yours is proving more annoying than I thought he would. I wonder where the bridge builder is now though, he can't have gone far. Never mind, I will finish this and then go collect my pay check!" This time Zabuza went for Naruto once more, only for two of the blondes clones to appear from nowhere and block the attack along with the original whilst Kakashi appeared by the missing ninja with a kunai to the man's throat.
"I think not, it is over Zabuza. Drop your..." Kakashi was cut off when Zabuza jerked forward and slashed his throat open on his kunai blade, turning to water even as Zabuza in turn appeared behind Kakashi and bisected him and the two clones with a mighty sweep of his blade, the real Naruto falling backwards with a heavy cut to the chest. Sasuke's shock turned to relief as what he thought had been his teacher turned to water even as Zabuza deflected ranged attacks from him and Sakura by holding his blade in front of him like a shield. The missing ninja tried to retreat into the slowly thinning mist, but Kakashi was upon him like a hound after a fox, forcing Zabuza onto the defensive for the first time since the ambush had begun. Zabuza suddenly leapt backwards twenty feet with Kakashi following, dual kunai in hand and it was only Sasuke's sharp eyes that picked out the slight ripple on the ground around Zabuza, which meant.
"Sensei he is on water now!" His warning came a moment too late, Kakashi landing on what he had thought was solid ground only to sink up to his hips before using his chakra to balance himself. The momentary distraction cost him however as Zabuza had used the time to form a string of nine seals before clapping his hands in front of him. The water round Kakashi bubbled and rose up even as Kakashi tried to perform a shushin jutsu to escape, but the water formed a bubble around him and obviously the technique Zabuza was using prevented Kakashi's use of the fast movement technique. Sasuke realised how bad the situation was even as Zabuza spoke up, his voice filled with sadistic glee.
"Now I have Kakashi helpless in my grasp, I wonder what his pathetic little genin are going to do? If you give me the bridge builder I will let you three run back to Konoha with your tails between your legs..."
"Take Tazuna and get out of here! He can't move whilst he maintains this jutsu!" Kakashi's order was definitely not well thought out by any means, after all none of them could even challenge Zabuza in a fight with Kakashi's help, so they stood no chance against him without the white haired jounin.
"But who says that I have to be the one to chase them Hatake, when I have mizu bushin. It is not like they stand a chance against even a tenth of my strength." As Zabuza spoke he stowed his blade on his back and formed a half hand seal, a water clone rising out of the lake in front of him, drawing its weapon almost lazily before looking in their direction. As the water clone stalked forwards Sasuke prepared to charge it, only for Naruto to call out to him, the blonde covering his chest wound with one hand whilst the other grasped his axe.
"Sasuke, let him come to us, we can't fight him on the water. We gotta save Kakashi-sensei!" Sasuke shook his head, trust the dobe to state the obvious, but he had a point and Sasuke moved over to where he and Sakura were stood.
"Well, do you have a plan dobe or am I going to have to save the day again?" To Sasuke's surprise Naruto didn't get angry or mad, instead turning to Sakura with a smirk on his face.
"Sakura-chan, how high can you throw a kunai in Zabuza-teme's direction? Can you get it most of the way there and about forty foot up?" Judging by Sakura's confused expression Sasuke wasn't the only one who had no idea how the question pertained to a relevant strategy, but there was no time to wonder about it as the water clone was closing quickly. Naruto thrust two kunai into Sakura's hand before whispering something to her that Sasuke didn't catch, but Sakura suddenly had a look of understanding as Naruto turned back to the water clone.
"Come on then, let's get this over with teme..." Sasuke just wondered whether Naruto meant him or Zabuza with his final comment...
Persona- Kakashi Hatake
As Shikaku finished reading out Sasuke's report Kakashi had to admit he was impressed with the detail of some of the descriptions, but he supposed they had been supplied by the Yamanaka who had searched through the memories. It was Masori who was the first to break the silence.
"So as an elite jounin you were captured by such a simple trick? Standards really are suffering in Konoha." None of the ninja felt the need to deign the comment with a response, as they knew that it was only in hindsight that it was clear what Zabuza's intentions had been. Choza seemed to be busy making notes, probably about Naruto's conduct as neither of the other judges would be doing so, leaving Shikaku too take the lead once more.
"So despite receiving direct orders from you to leave, your team decided to stay and fight a superior opponent in conditions that meant that they were at a huge disadvantage to save their sensei? Interesting to note such a comradely connection had formed so quickly into their time together, though the attitude of Genin Uchiha towards his team members may need to be reviewed at a later time." Masori snorted in derision but stopped short of saying anything directly at Shikaku's sharp glance, Choza shaking his head as he spoke up without his eyes leaving his notes.
"From what I understand it was a healthy rivalry between two very socially awkward orphans, it was a way for both of them to vent in a constructive and relatively non-dangerous manner. It may mean that Genin Uzumaki's death may have greater impact on Genin Uchiha than first thought, hidden in all of the doubt and mockery was a mutual respect that I don't think either of them would have acknowledged but knew was there. I will speak with Inochi about counselling for both of your Genin after this hearing Kakashi. Now, we have a half hour before the break for lunch, shall we speed things along so we can have finished the encounter before then?" There was muffled chuckling around the room at the final comment, Akimichi ninja were renowned not only for the amount of food they were capable of downing every meal but for their rather picky eating times, getting between an Akimichi and his lunch had been a fate that more than one enemy ninja had come to regret.
The look Choza cast Kakashi as he said it however let him know that the break was probably for another reason, even as Shikaku took up the report and began reading once more...
Persona- Sasuke Uchiha
Ducking under the swing of the water clone's cleaver Sasuke attempted a retaliatory strike at the clones knee whilst Naruto went for an overhead strike, the water clone dodging his strike whilst batting Naruto away with his right hand effortlessly, making it clear that it was playing with them. Probably just keeping them busy until Kakashi ran out of air, a time frame that whilst unknown in length was shortening every second they wasted time here. Naruto wheeled in the air as Sasuke jumped back for space, his single hand sign and glance towards Sasuke made Sasuke smirk even as he surreptitiously started weaving hand signs as dozens of clones burst into existence and charged the Zabuza clone. Zabuza chuckled from his spot on the lake as the water clone destroyed half a dozen of the incoming attackers with his first swing.
"Numbers will never triumph over a superior opponent without heavy casualties brat, I wonder who will perish first, all your clones or Hatake, and he's looking a bit strained right now." Obviously Zabuza and his clone had dismissed him as a threat in favour of Naruto, something Sasuke would make the regret as he breathed in deeply before using his grand fireball technique. The sheer amount of water in the air greatly lessened the effectiveness of the technique, but from ten yards away there was no way he was going to miss with a technique that he had practiced dozens of times. Zabuza's water clone was caught mid swing and completely off balance as the flames slammed into it and threw it back several feet even as its countenance turned blue and it collapsed into water once more.
"Impressive technique for a brat genin, I should have recognised the clan symbols earlier Uchiha. I thought your entire clan had been wiped out apart from the man who killed them all, but that just makes you even more valuable, being related to the great Itachi Uchiha." The mention of Itachi's name had Sasuke's blood boiling, gritting his teeth as the missing ninja continued. "You managed to defeat one of my water clones and I must admit that is impressive, but I can make more of those all day and you are running out of tricks!" Even as Zabuza moved his free hand to form half seals once more Naruto suddenly shouted out.
"Do it now!" Several of Naruto's clones had managed to survive Sasuke's fireball and at Naruto's order suddenly started flinging kunai and shuriken at Zabuza with gusto and Sasuke joined in hastily. The clones aim was atrocious, something the clones shared with the original, with more than half of the projectiles missing their target entirely. But in this case volume of fire worked its magic as Zabuza was forced to draw his blade and shift it so that it acted as a shield, disrupting his jutsu and putting the missing ninja on the back foot for the first time since Kakashi had been captured.
"First, there is distraction..." The muttered words from Naruto made Sasuke tilt his head slightly in Naruto's direction, the words bringing back memories of a lecture Iruka had given in the academy.
*Flashback*
Having just finished a taijutsu session outside the class were now sat inside, some nursing minor cuts and bruises as their scarred sensei looked around at them. "What are the three most important factors to winning a fight with any opponent?" Everyone paused for a moment, knowing that Iruka was not looking for an obvious answer to the question, so everyone tried to think of something slightly more profound. Well, nearly everyone anyway Sasuke thought with a mental sigh as Naruto stuck his hand up whilst almost shaking with eagerness. Iruka pointed at Naruto with almost a resigned air, obviously he had mentally set his standards as low as Sasuke's for Naruto's response.
"Knowing your opponents weaknesses, forcing him to fight to your strengths and erm... Really awesome jutsu." Rather than the audible groan that usually followed a Naruto answer, everyone was looking rather shocked whilst glancing between the grinning boy and Iruka. Whilst the last point had been typical Naruto, it had been phrased almost as if it had been said because the blonde couldn't come up with a third actual point, his first two having been surprisingly insightful for the dobe of the class. Iruka certainly looked impressed and even smiled slightly before he shook his head.
"The first two were close to what I was getting at Naruto, so I will address the third point. Awesome jutsu are certainly useful in the field, but who can tell me what would be a skill or trait that would render Jutsu difficult or disadvantageous?" There was a pause for a moment before the lazy drone of Shikamaru Nara filtered to the front of the class.
"Speed or a Dojutsu such as the Sharingan would make using jutsu troublesome." Iruka nodded even though a slight frown crossed his face, probably because the Nara's head hadn't even shifted from lying on the table near the top corner of the classroom.
"Exactly, each ninja branch can be negated by another aspect of ninja skills, unless it is far greater in skill or power. What I am in fact talking about are the three D-skills, which if utilised correctly and effectively can help you go toe to toe with a far superior foe. First, there is Distraction, forcing the foe to react to your moves rather than implementing his own strategy. Kunai and shuriken are useful here as they can be thrown in numbers to force the opponent to dodge or block..."
*Flashback end*
It was with that memory jolt that Sasuke realised what Naruto was intending to do, even if he had no direct idea on the specifics of what the blonde was planning on doing. It was at that moment that the next part of the plan revealed itself, a Naruto clone rocketing from the sky at a speed that Sasuke had not seen before from the blonde, axe swing only just blocked by Zabuza with his sword. It was the fizzing sound that was audible even from where Sasuke was stood that made him cover his eyes with one hand, just in time for at least four flash tags to go off, bathing the area in white light even as the shock wave sent ripples through the lake. As Sasuke lowered his hand he caught sight of Naruto beaming in the direction of the lake, where Zabuza stood with streaming eyes and light burns on his upper body.
"Second, Disorientate or Disable the opponent's senses, so that he does not catch on to number three, Deception. Make the opponent think he has beaten your plan, only to have one last card to play." The word for word repetition of Iruka's words from Naruto pre-empted him raising a kunai and throwing it towards Zabuza, Sasuke quickly following suit as he saw Naruto's blade was going off target. Zabuza obviously still had some of his hearing or sight, as he shifted his head to avoid both shots. "Nice try bastards, it will take more than that beat me. When my vision has cleared I am going to enjoy making all of you die painfully..." Zabuza suddenly turned as the kunai Naruto had thrown burst into smoke, a Kage bushin swinging its axe towards Zabuza's neck in its place. Zabuza batted it away, obviously not risking another group of flash tags, but then four hands burst from the lake surface and grabbed Zabuza's feet, pulling the missing ninja down into the water and breaking his contact with the water prison.
Sasuke actually wanted to clap in appreciation such was his level of awe at what he had just seen, but that would break his cool image and therefore just went for a soft 'hnn' in Naruto's direction even as Kakashi was quickly replaced by a Naruto clone on the shoreline, the jounin breathing heavily as he got his breath back. There was a sudden maelstrom of water as Zabuza burst from the lake, Naruto clone choking in his right hand whilst his left slammed his sword round onto Naruto, shattering the blade of his axe which had been brought up as a block and sending the blonde flying across the ground.
"You will die last brat, I will make sure to draw it out whilst your friends bleed in front of your eyes." Zabuza advanced on Naruto's fallen form only to have to block a vicious strike from Kakashi who seemed faster and more alert than before.
"You were outwitted by my students Zabuza and now you will face me once more, and this time I will not play nice..." The two flashed away from the shoreline once more, clashing sounds making it clear that their combat still continued elsewhere but Sasuke could not make them out through the still present but thinning mist. Sakura rushed over to Naruto as he forced himself to a sitting position and Sasuke followed, keeping a wary eye out for Zabuza's return. The blonde was in bad shape, shards of his former weapon embedded in his torso and arms, whilst his face was bleeding from several sharp cuts and his right arm hung uselessly at his side. Even as Sakura started tentatively removing the shards and using bandages from her first aid kit Sasuke moved round them with kunai out as Zabuza and Kakashi appeared in front of each other out on the lake, flipping through hand signs rapidly.
"Teme!" Naruto's laboured voice caused Sasuke to turn and look at what he needed even as a pair of water dragons shot out of the water, one behind each of the two combatants. Naruto seemed in better shape already, waving his good arm impatiently in Sasuke's direction. "Move out of the way, you're blocking my view of an awesome jutsu battle!" Whether it was out of disbelief or genuine amusement Sasuke found himself smiling slightly even as he did as asked, who was he to stop Naruto from seeing how real ninja use jutsu? Though judging by the size of the wave building up behind Kakashi as the mist was sucked into it steadily, now was the time to move back a bit.
"Naruto, where did you hide Tazuna again? We need to move to the trees for this next jutsu..." Judging by the look on Naruto's face, he wasn't going to like the answer...
A/N: I know I know, nobody died, which a surprising number of people have wanted to happen. Sorry guys but killing off any of the characters at this stage would have done more harm than good at this stage in plot development, so you will have to wait until later on for people to start dropping off the radar.
I was originally planning on doing most if not all of Wave Country mission in a single chapter, but when I checked the word count and I was 11,000 words without being anywhere near even halfway through the meat of the plot. With that in mind I have decided that people would prefer incremental story updates rather than just massive updates once in a blue moon (something I am getting steadily worse at), so here it is. Let me know what you think and please favourite and review with ideas etc etc, I do love a bit of help with development from people. Also, waking up to a inbox full of people liking my stories is always a nice boost for starting the day… :P