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Regular speech: "Wryyyyyy."
Thoughts: 'Wryyyyyy.'
Summon's, higher beings regular speech: "Wryyyyyy."
Summon's, higher beings thoughts: 'Wryyyyyy.'
Locations: Somewhere in the deep ocean…
Techniques: Kawarimi!
'Document, quotation'.
Italics can be used for certain kinds of emphasis or snide comments.
Bold can be used for forceful yelling/shouting/screaming.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or JJBA.
Chapter III
After facing the Demon Brothers, Kakashi decided that the team should pick up speed to avoid any more ambushes.
'Although carrying a full-grown man on my back for hours is exhausting, it is preferable than letting these kids face any more mercenaries. Next time we might not be as lucky,' Kakashi mused.
The rest of the day went peacefully, although in frantic pace. When they finally reached the coast, they camped for an hour, the shinobi replenishing their energy, meanwhile Tazuna went to fetch their transport to the island. Having had their rest, the group crossed the strait via a boat, who's driver was a partner of Tazuna's.
Having almost reached the island, Kakashi was determined to find out the truth. "Tazuna-san, tell me what really is happening in your country. If you won't answer me, this mission will end the moment we hit the ground."
Sighing heavily, the bridge builder answered. "Alright, lad. Seems like I don't have a choice either way. Listen carefully, I won't repeat myself."
It turns out that the Wave is currently under control of the man called Gato, a huge tycoon in the transportation business. But this is only a cover for his main income, which is selling drugs and contraband. He expands his huge industry by capturing other companies and countries via his mercenaries, that consist both of regular bandits and shinobi.
It appears that his main goal in the Wave, in addition of capturing all of the country's valuable resources, are huge deposits of rare and tremendously expensive black pearl, that were discovered less than a year ago on one of the many coral reefs near the coast. As simple-minded as their daimyo was, no one expected him to not only lay his hands on all the wealth to keep it for himself, but to attract too much attention of the wrong people.
Gato was one of the many who laid their eyes on the newfound resources of the Wave, and he succeeded not because he invaded the country and killed the daimyo, no. Firstly he made a deal with him, which allowed him to buy real estate and businesses, and then he killed him and his family, taking his house for himself.
And since then, it went downhill for the people of the country. Not only does Gato make them work overtime, he doesn't bother giving them enough wage to feed themselves and their families. Only Tazuna and a handful of workers are fighting for the liberty of their country, by building a bridge that would connect them to the Land of Fire.
The situation in the nearest town was as bad as they feared.
Deserted streets, closed shops and overall feeling of emptiness described the picture best. The walk to the Tazuna's house led them into the woods away from prying eyes of Gato's rats. Although they still were on his territory, walking through the woods felt somewhat comforting after what they saw at the town. Despite the sorrow they've seen in the faces of what little people they've encountered, Naruto looked if not cheerful, then determined to help to the best of his ability.
'I said so myself, that I will go through with the mission. All these people are counting on Tazuna and his crew to finish the bridge, and I will not stand by while others suffer, believe it!' he thought to himself.
While Naruto was ready as ever to prove his worth, Sakura was thinking to herself. 'In that fight… I covered Tazuna-san with myself. Was I really ready to fight, to die? Or was it just a momentary surge of adrenaline that moved me?' the thought made her heart sank in her soles. 'What if I'm a coward? Even Naruto, who froze amidst the chaos, shown that he himself is determined to never give up. What of me? Will I waver at the sign of real trouble?'
"Don't beat yourself up, Sakura, you did good," Kakashi timely patted her on the shoulder.
"Kakashi-sensei? H-How did you…"
"I've seen a lot of people who were plagued with self-guilt and shame. If not stopped early, it will drive one to his grave, and trust me when I say that," Kakashi looked grim for a moment, but managed to pull off his signature eye smile.
"There!" the sudden cry out and the sound of kunai hitting the tree stopped his trail of thought. Naruto seemed to have found something.
"Oh, just a white rabbit…" the boy said in surprise.
"Would you stop showing off already?!" Sakura seemed it necessary to shout some sense in to the idiot's head.
"I really thought we were watched, believe it!"
"You're such a dumbass, Naruto. All you do when you're not frozen in fear is poach little animals. What a joke," jested his broody teammate.
During the verbal argument of two rookies, Kakashi seemed perplexed as to why the rabbit's coat was white during early summer.
'The only reason I could think of is that he is a caged rabbit. Was he released by the enemy so that he could later be used for Kawarimi?' he dwelled on the thought. 'If that's so, they must be nearby.'
Suddenly, a figure jumped out of the trees and thrown something massive at the group.
"Get down!" came from Kakashi, and instinctively, the group obeyed.
The giant sword stuck in the tree way above the ground with a tall, muscular shinobi landing on the handle.
"Not bad, not bad at all," joked Kakashi. "Is it the nukenin of the Hidden Mist, Momochi Zabuza-kun?" Playing stupid in front of the enemy may look silly, but is a helpful tactic to get them to underestimate you or piss them off.
'I've read about him,' thought Sasuke. 'He's one of the most dangerous shinobi ever produced by the Mist.' The thought maid him a little bit afraid of what's going to go down next.
'I really don't want to have anything in common with this man,' Sakura was clearly scared.
'Nukenin or not, here I come!' Naruto determined to charge in, but his mentor stopped him.
"No. Stay out of this Naruto, he's out of your league," with that he lifted the headband from his left eye. "Without this it would be a little too hard even for me."
"And you are Kakashi of the Sharingan? I see know why the brothers failed," he shifted his posture. "I'm sorry, but I'm gonna be needing that geezer."
'Sharingan? I didn't really think he had it. Besides our clan no one supposed to,' Sasuke wondered. 'He must've got the eye from some Uchiha, judging from the scar. He wouldn't be alive if he stole it.'
"Let's cut the chatter, shall we?" with Zabuza's proclaim, the genin formed a protective formation around Tazuna.
"Well, it seems that I shall have the first move," grabbing his signature blade free from the tree, he vanished in a blur only to reappear at the surface of the near pond. "Kirigakure no Jutsu!"
As soon as he said the words, the area has become encased in a thick fog, and by the minute it was getting even thicker.
'He laced the mist with large amounts of chakra,' Kakashi could see it clearly with his eye. 'Sharingan won't be of much use soon enough.'
"I will draw his attention. Meanwhile, don't interfere and protect Tazuna-san," his order was resolute.
As if on cue, the mist blanketed him away from the team's eyes.
"Damn, can't see a thing beyond 3 meters…" Naruto was overwhelmed by how fast it seemed to occupy the space.
"Even though mists are an ordinary occurrence here, because the Wave is surrounded by the ocean, I still never seen a mist thicken so fast," the old man was out of place in the battle of shinobi.
"I'll let you choose out of eight," a dreary, monotonous voice echoed.
The frightened genin tightened their grip on their kunai. "Where? Where's his voice is coming from?" Naruto can't seem to locate the killer.
"Liver, lungs, spine, jugular, carotid, brain, kidneys, heart," the voice said, as if listing a menu in the restaurant or a grocery list. "Where shall I land the killing blow?"
Suddenly, a burst of chakra cleansed the clearing free from most of the mist. Kakashi seemed to have found the way out of the situation.
'This is extremely dangerous,' Sasuke thought in terror. 'I feel as if I were to make one wrong move, I will be done for. His killing intent is so strong, I feel the life being drained out of me!'
"Sasuke, don't you worry," a call out from his sensei freed him from being petrified. "I will protect you all at the cost of my life. I won't let my comrades die," his eye smile, like a spell, seemed to cheer up the genin.
"Oh, we shall see…," a menacing voice came from behind the genin, "It's over for you."
Somehow Zabuza appeared in the circle that they made to protect Tazuna. As he was readying to strike them down with one swift motion of the gigantic Kubikiribocho, Kakashi rushed in to the scene, embedding the kunai deep into his belly. Water poured from the wound as if it wasn't a man, but a balloon full of water.
"Sensei! Behind you!" Naruto suddenly cried out. The one that Kakashi stricken down was merely a decoy, while the real Zabuza was already in full swing that was aimed to decapitate the jonin in two.
"Die!" was all that the killer said before striking down his opponent. However, he soon realised that he too, was fooled. All that his sword has swiped through was water.
"Mizu Bunshin? When did he…" before he could finish that sentence, he found a kunai pointing at his neck from behind.
«Don't move,» Kakashi said coolly. "This is over."
Despite the situation, Zabuza drawn out a dry laugh.
"Is it? You think you can defeat me by copying me like a monkey would? Hahahaha… Although, it is impressive," his confidence and cold-bloodiness worried Kakashi.
"You managed to copy my technique and implement it successfully in such a short amount of time. Your clone was cheering these maggots, trying to attract my attention, while the real you was waiting in the mist for my next move. A solid plan..." said the clone that just popped in front of Kakashi.
"But I'm not that easy," the real Zabuza appeared behind Kakashi, aiming his sword once again at the abdomen.
'Another decoy?' Naruto was baffled at how quick the tide of the battle was turning from one side to another.
This time, the jonin had to dodge the strike by ducking under it. But his opponent, embedding the sword in the ground at the end of the swing, caught him off guard with a kick, sending him flying.
'Now!' the Demon of the Mist was determined to end this right now, grabbing his Kubikiribocho and dashing after Kakashi, he was ready to finish him with a single strike, as all his victims fell before him.
However, the jonin that was sent flying, vanished, and from where he were last time, makibishi rained down on the ground, the iron caltrops that are used to halt the enemy's advance. Most of the shinobi's opponents weren't so careless as to step on it, but the slight pause they make to avoid it is already enough to gain an advantage. While Zabuza has stopped his pursue, Kakashi resurfaced in the pond.
"What's with this water, it's too heavy…" Kakashi couldn't utter anything else as Zabuza appeared behind him.
"Foolish. Suiro no Jutsu!"
After he announced his technique, the body of water instantly incased the former ANBU in a circular shape, hovering above the pond.
"Going into water was a big mistake, now, you are in my prison, from which you won't escape. It will hamper your movements and suffocate you, got it?" His captor drawn out another laugh.
"I think we can deal with our business later. First, let me have a look at them. Mizu Bunshin!"
= = = To be continued… = = =
I'll be the roundabout
The words will make you out 'n' out
I spend the day your way
Call it morning driving through the sound and
In and out the valley...