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Chapter 10 – Journey to the Land of Waves: Part 6 – The Decisive Battle Begins
Naruto snored soundly as Amaya passed the room he, Sasuke, and Kakashi shared. When she made her way to breakfast, she saw Kakashi doing one-fingered push-ups with Tazuna and Sakura sitting on his back. She grinned; the silver-haired nin hadn't noticed her. She motioned to Sakura and Tazuna to be quiet and summoned Mamoru. She and the mouse exchanged glances.
"I like the way you think," he whispered before scurrying from her palm down to the floor.
"Sakura," Amaya said, "you should be careful not to overestimate your abilities when training. Pushing yourself too far could be the straw that breaks the camel's back. Or, in this case, the mouse that breaks the shinobi's back." Hearing her words, Mamoru leapt into Sakura's lap.
'Oh, shit," Kakashi said as he collapsed. Laughter reverberated through the house as Kakashi glared at Amaya. "Damn you, woman."
"That's what you get for being a show-off," Mamoru squeaked, dashing back to his mistress and sitting on her shoulder before the silver-haired nin could catch him.
Amaya offered a hand to Kakashi and he grudgingly accepted, though she saw a smile under his mask. Sasuke, already eating breakfast, ignored the idiots. For Jonin, Kakashi and Amaya acted like children sometimes. He certainly didn't plan on acting like that when he became Jonin. After breakfast, everyone gathered their things and left for the bridge, save Naruto, who was still snoring when the group left.
"There's something I haven't told you," Amaya said as she and Kakashi slipped back from the group to talk.
"Hmmm?" The other Jonin turned a page in his book.
"I offered to take Zabuza and Haku back to the village so we could plead their case to the Hokage. They're only doing this job for the money to help with the rebellion in Kiri."
"That sounds like you."
The auburn-haired woman frowned. "You're not angry?"
"I know you. Know you won't hesitate to find a bloodless way to end a conflict. I don't like the idea of bringing nukenin back to Konoha, but you're good at reading people. Maybe we can work this out to our advantage. The Hokage might not take kindly to you promising what you did, but I think an alliance with Kiri might soften him up." Kakashi paused. "I've something to confess as well. I'm not at a hundred percent. I'll need your help if Zabuza shows up like I'm sure he will."
She only nodded and was glad to see their old trust was still there, even after she'd been gone for so long. For Kakashi to admit weakness was a rare thing.
"Hold on. What the hell is this?" Tazuna exclaimed.
Reaching the nearly completed bridge, the group stared open-mouthed at the builders lying prone. Mist began to pour in from the ocean. Amaya and Kakashi glanced at one another. Zabuza was here.
"Sasuke, Sakura, get ready," the silver-haired shinobi said. The four ninja surrounded Tazuna as Zabuza's voice spoke out of the mist.
"Sorry I kept you waiting, Kakashi. I see you've still got those brats with you. And that woman. Who is she? Your lover?" Mamoru squeaked with indignation from within Amaya's jacket and she quickly shushed him as Zabuza continued, turning his attention to Sasuke. "That one's still trembling. Pitiful."
Amaya tensed as seven Zabuzas materialized from the mist, but relaxed slightly when she realized they were only clones. Sasuke gripped his kunai more tightly. "I'm trembling with excitement."
"Go on, Sasuke," Kakashi commanded. A blur passed before Amaya and within seconds all the clones had collapsed.
Zabuza and Haku stepped out of the fog. The sword-wielding nin was mildly impressed. "Ooh, so you could see they were water clones, uh? The brat's improving. Looks like you've got a rival, Haku."
"So it seems," the masked boy agreed.
"Well, well," Kakashi said, "so we had it right. It was all an act. I'd say you've been pulling this scam for a long time."
"That's it. I'm taking him out. Who does he think he's fooling?" the raven-haired Genin stated.
Haku smiled behind his mask. "He's impressive. Even though they were only one tenth the strength of the original jutsu, he did destroy them all."
"That move still gave us the first advantage. Now use it."
"Don't you want to know if that woman meant what she told me?"
"No. You and I both know it was only some kind of trick. Now go!"
"Right."
In a matter of seconds, Haku and Sasuke were locked in combat, the young Uchiha matching the masked boy strike for strike. It was Amaya's turn to be impressed; Zabuza's student was fast, faster than she'd given him credit for, yet Sasuke was holding his own.
'Sakura," the Copy-nin said, "cover Tazuna and stay close to me and Amaya."
Amaya strolled to his side and Mamoru scurried into a higher pocket on the inside of her jacket. The two Konoha Jonin locked eyes, their muscles relaxing; both knew the other had their back.
Movement drew Amaya's gaze and she saw needles of ice floating in the air, all pointed at Sasuke. The young ninja channeled chakra to his feet and jumped at the last second. Soon, he and Haku were fighting again, but it seemed Sasuke had the advantage as he kicked the other boy in the face, sending him flying.
Zabuza watched incredulously as Haku skidded toward him. No one was faster than Haku. Or so he'd thought. "Haku, if we keep going like this, we'll be the victims instead of them. Get on with it."
Pushing himself to his feet, Haku wasted no more time and had Sasuke trapped in short order.
Amaya had never seen a technique like that before; mirrors of ice surrounded the Genin. She and Kakashi ran toward the mirrors, but Zabuza intercepted them.
"If you're going to enter the fight, I'll be your opponent. Forget about your boy. He has no chance against Haku." Amaya tried to dodge around the ex-Kiri nin, but he swung out his sword to stop her. "I don't think so. Try and help him and I'll kill the bridge-builder and the girl in a heartbeat."
She backed up until she was next to Kakashi again. Blocked by Zabuza's body, Amaya couldn't see the raven-haired Genin but heard his pain. Sasuke's cries pierced the air but suddenly stopped as smoke bombs went off. The smoke cleared, revealing Naruto. Amaya shook her head. Did he not understand the meaning of the word stealth?
Turning, Zabuza, tired of the stupidity, threw shuriken at the annoying brat. Naruto froze, but before the weapons could reach him, they were knocked from the air by Haku's senbon.
"This is a battle. Not a talent show, Naruto. You just turned yourself into a human target," Kakashi scolded.
"Haku, what the hell was that?"
"Zabuza, this boy…. Let me fight him my own way. Please."
Naruto, over-confident and cocky as ever, grinned. "Bring it on!"
"So you want me to leave this to you, Haku? As usual, you're too soft. Do as you please and keep the brats out of my hair."
None of them had to wait long for Naruto to dive into the center of the mirrors with Sasuke and save Haku the trouble of corralling the young blond. Amaya sighed; Naruto was smart but sometimes she wondered if he'd been born with common sense.
"I'm sorry you've been stuck teaching such an idiot, but don't worry. He'll be dead soon enough," Zabuza said before disappearing into the thickening mist.
Kakashi lifted his headband, exposing his Sharingan. "Looks like it's our turn now."
The mist steadily thickened until Amaya could only see Kakashi beside her; everyone and everything else had been swallowed by the fog. She closed her eyes, knowing that her sight was useless. As Kakashi scanned the mist for any movement, she listened. Even so, she almost didn't hear the attack coming. "Behind!"
Shuriken flew at the pair from behind; they turned just in time to stop the projectiles with hastily-drawn kunai.
"Damn. He's playing with us. He knows my Sharingan's as good as useless in this fog," Kakashi said, pulling the only shuriken he'd been unable to stop out of his palm. Blood dripped from the wound.
"I should've stayed with Tazuna and Sakura. You know that's where he'll go."
"She's right, you know. But I'll go after the bridge-builder after the two of you are dead," Zabuza's voice said from the mist.
The auburn-haired shinobi closed her eyes again, listening harder, while Kakashi continued to try and see through the mist. She guessed it'd been a while since he'd had to fight an enemy he couldn't see or hear and his concern for the Genin and Tazuna was further clouding his judgment. She pulled Mamoru from his pocket, but before she could do anything else, she back-stepped to avoid Zabuza's blade as it whistled out of the mist. The sound of ripping cloth told her that Kakashi hadn't been able to dodge. She knew that the silver-haired Jonin had been right; Zabuza was just playing with them. No. Playing with Kakashi. He was the one the ex-Kiri nin wanted dead more than anyone and Amaya guessed that if she didn't do something soon, Zabuza would have his wish.
