I don't own Naruto. The owner of him is too busy telling about the emo brothers to focus on the true star.

Even after posting this chapter my story now has more pages views than it has words. I am both awed and humbled by this fact. I thank everyone for their support and interest.

Chapter 12: To The Rescue

Naruto ran down the road toward the Wave Country along with his team; Hinata and Sakura under the command of Anko. It was well into the second day of their journey to the Wave to rescue Team 7. Anko had kept them running well into the night when they left due to being in familiar surroundings closer to Konoha. A short night of sleep in a cold silent camp had not done him much good. His one attempt at talking to Hinata had been intercepted by Anko.

"Just leave things alone right now, Naruto. Deal with personal business on your own time. Not during a mission."

The glares from Sakura he could easily shrug off. He had dealt with glares his entire life. The look on Hinata affected him a lot more. She had on what he referred to as a 'Hyuuga Face'. It was the cold emotionless mask that all Hyuuga seemed to wear at all times. In all the time he had known Hinata; she had never worn one. He pushed the pain in his chest deeper down. He wished he could understand all of this. None of the girls would talk to him. He missed his friend.

Anko called a 5-minute break when Sakura signaled she needed one. Naruto pulled a canteen from his pack and drank slowly. If anything, this trip so far was easier than training had been. He remembered that Anko and Jiraiya trained them into the ground whenever possible. Their idea, that training should be more difficult than a real situation, seemed to make sense to him now. Sakura signaled that she was ready to continue and they team was off running again.

Lunch was a light affair. Dry energy bars and cold tea while walking along the road was all the time Anko would give them. "It is better to keep walking while we eat today. We are going to be moving all day but we are not moving at full speed. By going a little slower than that we can move for a longer time before wearing down. In spite of all the physical progress you three have made, your long distance traveling experience is practically zero. From here on out, we will be spending a few minutes every hour walking along. We can use a bit of chakra to get some of the lactic acid built up in our muscles get flushed out and our blood oxygen level back to normal. We will be able to fight if needed without being too worn down and spend minimum amounts of chakra as we are working within our physical limits. We can save our chakra for emergencies instead of using it to make ourselves move faster. At our current rate of travel, we should reach the landward side of the unfinished bridge soon after dark and make camp. We can cross the water in the morning. If the briefing materials from Team 7's mission were accurate, the unfinished span is about 200 yards out. We can run over that on the water easily enough then climb up onto the bridge and run to the island on the completed part."

After Anko finished the short brief, she had them off running again.

Back in Konoha, Jiraiya could finally move again slightly. That did not save him from Tsunade's wrath while he had been paralyzed. The healer had used a healing jutsu to free up his vocal chords from the venom as long as she kept it active. Under threat of a lot more pain, he finally broke down under her questioning and told his former teammate everything that had happened.

"Ugh, I need a drink," Tsunade complained. "You mean all this trouble with Hinata is because she misunderstood something Naruto said? Sakura told me he said he did not like her."

"Did Sakura tell you he also said she was gorgeous and like a princess? The boy is in love with the girl and he does not even know it. His problem is he has had no one to explain things to him. He understands about being a pervert and about the act of sex, but he knows nothing of love or romance. All the things he would learn from having a family, Tsunade." Jiraiya paused before continuing and sounding angry at himself. "I'm his godfather and I should have been there for him, but my duty to Sensei and the village kept me away too much to even do that properly."

"Plus you are the biggest pervert in the Elemental Countries, you idiot," Tsunade snapped. "All that money writing books and you could have paid a handful of people to watch over him."

Tsunade sighed, "Both of us could have done a lot more for the gaki, but we both got lost in other things. I keep forgetting that all these years he had no one and missed out on so much we take for granted because we got taught things from family without even knowing we were learning them."

Tsunade continued a bit more gently now, "Jiraiya, I know you have been trying to keep your perverted nature away from the kids. We all knew they would find out eventually. This was bound to happen anyhow but rebuilding trust is something that might take some time. I just hope the girls don't keep the boy frozen out for more than a few days. Once they finally start to talk to him again, they can figure out where the misunderstanding came from."

Tsunade dropped her jutsu and scanned over Jiraiya once more. "The toxin is breaking down at least. A few more hours and you will be ready to get going after them."

Jiraiya managed a slight nod and just relaxed to let his body continue to flush the snake venom out of his system.

Anko called the team to a halt when the dying light was leaving things too dark to see. "We should be within a half hour of the bridge. We'll make camp here and get moving at dawn again. Naruto, come with me to scout for a stream." Anko pointed at the nearby woods and led the boy off.

Sakura looked as the pair moved off then she turned to Hinata. "How are you holding up Hinata?"

"I'm fine, Sakura. Don't worry yourself."

Sakura was looking directly at Hinata as the pearl-eyed girl was speaking. 'Liar,' Sakura thought.

Hinata busied herself with getting some rations out of a scroll and setting up the girls' tent. Her thoughts were all over but she kept up her somber mask. 'Just remember to be Rabbit on the mission. I can get through this.' She would repeat that to herself every few minutes or else her thoughts would turn back to Naruto.

Anko stopped at a stream a few hundred yards from the campsite and turned back to Naruto. "How you holding up back there, squirt?"

Naruto looked up at Anko and just replied quietly, "Fine. Not like anyone cares. You're mad at me for no reason anyhow; just like Hinata and Sakura. I didn't do anything."

Anko was a bit stunned at that comment. "You idiot! You yelled to Jiraiya and the whole world that you didn't like Hinata and now you are trying to claim you did nothing! You broke her heart, Naruto. Right now, you are so lucky that I can't hurt you or you would be in the hospital next to Jiraiya!!" Anko stormed off back to the camp.

Naruto just watched Anko leave with his mouth hanging open. In a small voice that Anko did not hear he said, "But I never said that."

A few minutes later, Anko's angry voice carried back to him. "Move it, gaki! Back to camp!"

The team kept a watch that night. All through his, Naruto could have been ambushed, as he was very distracted. Luckily nothing happened and in the morning the team headed off to the bridge site. Only a few half built foundations and stakes in the ground marked the landward side of the great bridge being built.

Anko looked over the team. "From here on out, we go on as if we expect to be attacked. We run at full speed over the water, and then run up the pilings onto the bridge, then to the island. Kakashi should have his team looking out for help or on security so we might run into someone who can help us find him."

Anko led off down to the water and sprinted the few hundred yards to the unfinished bridge. The team followed in silence. The need for focus kept all their personal problems buried deep in the background.

They scaled the empty bridge and scanned for a potential ambush. Anko noted that the genin all did their duties as trained. She hoped that this was a good sign that the team might not break apart due to personal problems. A dash along the completed stretch led them to a small village at the island side. Anko gestured to Hinata who activated her Byakugan and held still as she scanned the immediate surroundings for friend and foe.

"There are villagers in their homes but many are still asleep. No guards around the village and no sign of Team 7. Increasing range," Hinata report in a crisp tone.

After a few minutes Hinata announced, "I have spotted Kiba. He is about 4 miles away east by southeast, walking with Akamaru. He has a bandage on his head but seems alert."

Anko nodded at the information. "We move in standard formation. Stop about a half-mile from his position. We go for a downwind position so angle more east by northeast. Hinata lead off and signal when we reach that distance."

The team sped off after the Hyuuga heir, the village remaining asleep and ignorant in their passing.

Kiba was walking slowly along the path towards town. He was glad to be out of that house. Kakashi and Sasuke were both a severe pain in the butt; Kakashi less so since he was injured and in charge again after waking up. Summoning that dog of his had knocked him out for a day and a half. Sasuke naturally tried to assume command of the squad but neither Shino nor Kiba gave him much respect. Akamaru bristled for a moment before he felt something off as well. Kiba pulled out a kunai and moved off the road looking around. A voice called out to the Inuzuka, "Well you get points for sensing us, but we could have had you first, Kiba."

"Naruto? Is that you?" Kiba called out.

"Yup, dog breath," replied Naruto as he stepped out into the open with the rest of the team following.

Anko smirked at Kiba. "Take us to your leader."

Kakashi sat with Anko at the kitchen table of Tazuna, the bridge builder. Sakura was working on Kaakshi's broken arm and the rest of the genin were scattered around the room. Tazuna sat at the table and the last chair was empty. "The best I can do right now is stimulate healing, Kakashi-san. You are lucky you had someone make sure it is properly set. I am not fully trained on using chakra to heal bones as yet. It should be back to full use in about two weeks," Sakura told Kakashi.

"Good, good, that is better than waiting another month." Kakashi seemed to smile at the pink haired medic and she moved off to the side.

Anko looked over at Kakashi now that he was in slightly better shape. "So, what the heck happened on the mission that you need a rescue?"

"We were making good time on our way here. We managed to get to the coast with no trouble from the bandits we were expecting."

Begin Flashback:

"Kiba, keep Akamaru quiet. I understand he does not like water but he could give away out position." Kakashi ordered.

Kiba hugged Akamaru close and closed his jacket over the dog to muffle the sound of his whines slightly. Kiba made sure his puppy had plenty of air from the bottom of his coat so the dog would not asphyxiate. "Just a little further boy, and we will be back on land." Akamaru whined once more and tried to keep silent.

Sasuke glared at the boy and dog but said nothing. He did not like being in this boat much either but it was the only way they could reach the island. Shino merely sat and had bugs flitting off into the surrounding fog and returning at regular intervals.

"Nothing close by, Kakashi-sensei," Shino reported

The boat soon grounded and the passengers hurried along the coast road towards Tazuna's house. The fog was getting thicker as they moved but Tazuna directed them easily as he knew the way even in darkness.

"Kakashi-sensei, my bugs have detected chakra use in the area. The fog is being controlled by jutsu and we are surrounded by 4 ninja," Shino reported

A voice rang out in the mist. "Well well, Sharingan Kakashi. I should feel honored but then again, you'll likely be dead soon; along with my target. Give up the bridge builder and I might even decide to let you leave alive."

A figure appeared out of the mist standing on a tidal pond in front of the group. "Momochi Zabuza," Kakashi said. "The Demon of the Mist."

"Well, now that the introductions are finished let's get down to business. I am going to kill that bridge builder. Either you can move and live, or remain and die. I am being paid the same regardless so I really do not want the extra work."

"We are being paid to keep him alive, so I am afraid you will just be disappointed," Kakashi said in his normal lazy voice.

Kakashi reached back to pull out a kunai and signaled his team into action. Kiba tossed Akamaru a food pill and activated his Four Legs jutsu. Shino lets his kikai bugs fan out across the area, sucking the chakra from the fog and causing it to lighten up considerably. Sasuke pulled out several kunai and stood ready to hurl them in defense of Tazuna.

The initial attack came from the Mist ninja. The pair known as the Demon Brothers leapt towards Sasuke planning on making quick work of the Uchiha and Tazuna. The chain between the chunin's arms clinked as they closed in on their target.

Sasuke simply threw kunai and pinned the chain to the ground long enough for Kiba and Akamaru to attack the pair. Several slashing attacks by the canine team left the Demon Brothers on the defensive. Shino's kikai bugs swarmed over the pair next; intent on draining away the chakra of the Mist ninja. The pair leaped away with a portion of the bugs attached to them, the rest trailing back towards Shino.

"Hmm, your team has a small amount of skill, Kakashi. You have the makings of a heavy assault squad there. The emo there on defense did not look too impressive however."

Sasuke growled in annoyance and glared at Zabuza.

"Wow, I could almost feel that killer intent. Another few years and you might be able to scare a genin with that, boy" Zabuza taunted.

The bulk of Shino's bugs began flying at Zabuza now from all sides. The swordsman leapt away and tried to cast a justu. The bugs swarmed over Zabuza's body for a moment before it shattered into a puddle of water. Behind Sasuke, Zabuza appeared from out of the mist and swung his sword at Tazuna. Kakashi appeared in its path and blocked the zanbato with a kunai. The block cost Kakashi a huge amount of chakra to stop the momentum of the huge sword. Kiba scrambled in behind Zabuza and tried to slice the missing ninja's hamstrings but failed as Zabuza jumped away from the group.

Kakashi kept his gaze in Zabuza as Shino recovered his bugs. "Sensei, the two that attacked have backed off with a significant percentage of their chakra drained. The fourth ninja in the area is hanging back as well, but seems to be merely observing for now." Kakashi nodded at the report and lifted his headband up from his face, revealing his Sharingan eye.

'I need to finish this quickly before that last ninja gets involved. An unknown suddenly joining this battle could tip things against us,' Kakashi thought. "Kiba, you and Akamaru guard the client, Shino trail me left, Sasuke, trail me right." Grunts of acknowledgement followed and Kakashi charged.

Sasuke and Shino followed in Kakashi's wake and hurled kunai toward Zabuza to force him to react. Zabuza just let the knives bounce off his zanbato but was take by surprise when the kunai changed into kikai bugs and swarmed the swordsman's arm and weakening it. Kakashi attacked Zabuza on his off side which made the missing ninja have to jump away again. He was noticeably awkward in his motions as the bugs had disrupted his normal chakra flow by draining his arm temporarily. Zabuza landed in the pond and submerged himself to shake off the kikai. The bugs did not like the high salt content of the water and fled back to Shino.

After a few minutes, Zabuza surfaced and Team 7 prepared for battle again. Zabuza went through hand signs and a dozen water clones formed around him. Four clones went after each genin and Zabuza himself went after Kakashi.

The clones immediately had the genin on the defensive. Shino deployed most of his bugs but many on his person had already fed well on the Demon Brothers and were sluggish. He recalled the remaining bugs that had been scattered around the battle site to aid him as he dodged multiple attacks. Shino's coat became sliced in several places when his speed was lacking. The returning bugs were now able to swarm the clones. Slowly, the water clones assaulting him were dispelled.

Kiba and Akamaru were forced to guard Tazuna as they dodged sword attacks from the water clones. If they used their favored jutsu, the bridge builder would be exposed to attack by one or more clones. This left the pair tied to a fixed point. The lack of mobility limited their offense greatly but slashing claws managed to get under the defenses of the clones. The final clone blocked a frontal attack from Kiba by getting his blade in the way so Kiba rammed it with his head. Before the clone could kill the stunned genin, Akamaru ripped its throat out and it splashed into a puddle on the prone boy.

Sasuke saw the clones coming at him and drew a half dozen kunai. Holding 3 in each fist like claws, he waited for the attack to come. The clones came in at him swinging and Sasuke merely danced around them, the kunai slashing into the clones and quickly dispelling them. 'Those clones could not have been more than a quarter of the strength of the first one,' Sasuke thought. 'All too easy to dispatch.'

Zabuza closed in on Kakashi. Thrusts, swings, parries and dodges followed in quick succession as neither could find an opening or land a clean hit. Both jonin looked ragged after this fight and were breathing heavily. Blood dripped from assorted minor wounds on both men.

Zabuza charged one more time, swinging his zanbato with his remaining strength at Kakashi's torso. Kakashi went to block but Zabuza's strength faltered in mid swing. Instead of the blow falling on the armored gloves Kakashi wore; the flat of the blade slammed into his left forearm snapping the ulna. Kakashi winced in pain but saw Zabuza had over reached in trying to correct his swing. Kakashi's kunai flashed out and cut deep into Zabuza's own forearm; causing the swordsman to drop his sword. Kakashi followed with a kick to Zabuza's gut sending him back from the fallen blade.

Shino and Sasuke moved up to flank Kakashi now which kept Zabuza from recovering his sword. A feint from Shino left Zabuza open to a blow from Sasuke which sent the missing ninja back into the tidal pond down on one knee

The trio was preparing to move in on Zabuza when a wall of ice sprung up between them. Shino said "The other ninja is moving in rapidly to aid Zabuza." They saw a swirl of robes. A figure in an ANBU style mask grabbed Zabuza and leapt away. The wall of ice prevented Team 7 from giving chase.

Kakashi slid his forehead protector back into place over his eye and groaned in pain as he tried to move the ends of his broken bone back into proper position. "Well, I think I will have to teach you all first aid when we get back to Konoha," he muttered.

Kiba approached and asked to see the arm. The Inuzuka shed his pack and pulled a small first aid kit from it and retrieved a split and gauze. He massaged the muscles on Kakashi's forearm to set the bone correctly and expertly tied the split in place. Shino and Sasuke both looked at him in disbelief. Kiba grinned and said, "My sis is a vet and she made sure I learned a few things in case Akamaru got hurt in the field. It's all basic stuff and works on both dogs and people."

Kakashi nodded to Kiba and then glared at Tazuna. "It seems some people are very interested in you not finishing your bridge. Who is it and why?"

Tazuna was scared from the battle and now of Kakashi's gaze. "The man after me is Gato, the shipping tycoon. But he never used ninja before. All he ever did was threaten my workers with thugs. That is the truth." Tazuna looked ready to wet himself in fear so Kakashi relaxed his gaze slightly.

"We are in no condition to head back and we are almost at our destination, so we press on. We rest up and figure out our next move." The genin all nodded and got ready to move out. "Kiba, do you think you can carry that sword along? It might make a good bargaining piece to the Mist Village. I think they would pay handsomely to get one of their legendary swords returned."

The team followed Tazuna toward the man's house a few miles further on. Kakashi was more exhausted than he had let on at first. Between that and Kiba hauling the zanbato, the group was slowed down. The last few miles of the trip took over an hour. Soon, they approached Tazuna's house only to see the front door wide open.

A boy was tied to a chair in the kitchen and a note sat on the table. Tazuna rushed to untie the boy who cried out, "Grandpa, they came and took Mama!! They are going to kill her like they did Kaiza!"

Kakashi picked up the note and read it aloud, "'Return the sword Kubikiri Hocho and the woman will be returned unharmed and unmolested. Bring the sword to the Gato warehouse on the north side of the island within 5 days or the woman dies.' The letter is unsigned."

"This is bad. This mission is far beyond parameters and I am in no shape to fight. Gato will be watching the water for us to try to escape. So we cannot fight and we cannot leave. If Momochi Zabuza regains his weapon he would be more than a match for 3 genin. We will need aid from Konoha. Luckily, we have wounded those ninja enough that they need time to recover as we do. Otherwise I fear the time given would be much shorter. A fast team could be here from Konoha in 2 days. We just need to get a message home. Tazuna, have patience. We are going to help you get your daughter back."

Kakashi took out a scroll and wrote quickly. After finishing his message, he made several hand signs and summoned his dog, Pakkun. "Pakkun, it is important that this message gets to the Hokage as soon as possible." Kakashi tucked it into a pocket of the blue vest the dog wore and Pakkun sprinted out the still open door. Kakashi slumped down into a chair. "Now, we wait."

End Flashback

Anko nodded. "We have one more day before the time limit for the exchange. Then maybe a couple of days after that before they would be able to do something if Zabuza is as drained and injured as you, Kakashi. We can spend the time today scouting out enemy positions."

"I would rather we do not have to make the trade but we will to save the hostage," Kakashi stated.

Anko agreed and the two jonin bend their heads together to make a plan.

Next Chapter: Scouting the Enemy

End Notes: A few people seemed surprised that Sakura and Anko took Hinata's side so quickly and forcefully. It has been my personal experience that women tend to close ranks against a guy when one of their number is hurt emotionally. The fact that she was the one who made the mistake is irrelevant to the girls until a later time but they still manage to blame the guy anyhow.

I had the Demon Brothers not attack in their canon style due to the apparent strength of Team 7. They pulled back and attacked with Zabuza instead with Haku acting as a background support as normal. The Demon Brothers are still fairly wimpy for chunin anyhow.

Review Notes:
Metal Dragoon hit it right on the head regarding my handling of Naruto and the relationship. But no pedestal complex is involved. I view it as he does not know how to get from like to love without going through pervert and he does not want to be a 'pervert'. Plus, he is only 13 and many of us guys remember how confusing a time that was when girls went from having cooties to having your attention.

Leaprechaun see the note at the top of chapter 8.