Journey to the Land of Waves


A/N: After countless revisions and planning, I'm finally ready to work on this story. As for my other Naruto stories posted on this account, those are discontinued from this point on. If you've read the OC introductions, you know that I'm adjusting the cannon slightly so all ninja squads have four Genin per squad. Anyways, I've decided to just jump right into the story and start at the beginning of the Land of Waves arc of Naruto, get right to the action and whatnot. Now, since I'm doing this, my original character Akira Hatake will be the only one featured, the rest will make their appearances during the start of the Chunin Exam Arc. Hope you guys will give this story a chance and, as always, reviews are greatly appreciated. If you have any questions, leave them in a review or PM me. Now, enough author rambling, on with the story.

~Cyber


Sakura's cries echoed over the unfinished bridge. Tazuna stood a foot behind her, his own eyes welling with tears at the sight of the young girl sobbing over her fallen teammate. Just a few yards away, Akira struggled with keeping her own tears from falling, knowing she shouldn't show such emotion in the face of their enemy, the Demon of the Hidden Mist, standing some feet away.

"It wasn't supposed to be like this." she sniffled, biting her lip. She could see Sakura's body laying over Sasuke's as she continued to sob, and the sight itself brought moisture to her onyx colored eyes, and a single tear fell down her cheek. "None of us were supposed to die here. Not this soon."

A hand gently squeezed her shoulder and Akira just let her tears fall. She turned and wrapped her arms around Naruto and cried into the orange material of his jacket, her own shoulders heaving. Tears formed in the blonde ninja's eyes as he wrapped his arm around his silver haired teammate, rubbing her back as she cried into his shoulder.


Three Weeks Earlier...

The sun shone over the village of Konohagakure and a team of four young genin were tracking their latest target. "Sasuke, I'm at point B." relayed the raven-haired member of the team, who wore a navy blue shirt with a high-collar and white shorts.

"Sakura, I'm at point C." said one of the Kunoichi of the team, who had long, pink hair and wore a red qipao dress with short sleeves.

"Akira, I'm at point A." followed the second Kunoichi of the team, wearing a blue-grey shirt and matching skirt, and had long, silver hair, a small portion pulled back into a ponytail.

A few minutes passed before the fourth and final genin called in his location, a blue eyed blonde male who wore a bright orange jacket and matching pants. "Naruto, I'm at point D. Believe it."

"You're slow Naruto." scolded the team's jonin sensei. "Okay Squad Seven, target is on the move." Kakashi relayed to his students. A rustling from the nearby put everyone on their guard and a small shadow jumped from the bushes. "Follow it!"

The genin broke from their locations and moved closer to their target. surrounding it. "What's your distance from the target?" asked Kakashi.

Akira braced her back against the tree, peeking around the side. "Five meters, sensei." she answered.

"I'm ready, just give the signal." Naruto added.

"I'm ready too." followed Sasuke.

"So am I." said Sakura.

The team's target stayed still, completely unaware of the ninja surrounding it. A couple minutes later, Kakashi gave the order and the genin converged on the target, a small brown cat with a line down her forehead with three smaller lines across it, and a red ribbon on her right ear. Naruto wrapped his arms around the cat, and it let out a shrill yowl.

"Did you verify the red ribbon on the right ear?" Kashi asked over the comms.

"Affirmative." answered Sasuke.

At the same time, the cat was scratching away at Naruto and was trying to wiggle free from the blonde ninja's grasp. "Good job." the white haired Jonin praised. "Lost pet, Tora, captured. Mission Accomplished."

"Can't we get a better mission than this!?" Naruto yelled into the com devices. "I hate cats!" The high-pitch of his voice caused some feedback through the comms and made the other ninjas clutch their ears in pain.


Squad Seven returned to the Ninja Academy with Tora in tow and returned her to her owner, Madam Shijimi, the wife of the Land of Fire's Daimyō. Upon being returned, Madam Shijimi embraced Tora, tightly, causing the cat to meow in disagreement.

"Ha! Stupid cat!" Naruto laughed. "That kitty deserves to be squashed."

"No wonder she ran away." Sakura noted, blinking her light green eyes.

"If I was crushed like that every day, I probably would've run away too." Akira added under her breath, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Now then," the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, cleared his throat, looking over a list of missions for the team standing before him. "for Squad Seven's next mission, we have several available tasks." he informed. "Babysitting the chief counselors three-year-old, helping his wife do the shopping, picking up potatoes…"

"No!" Naruto interjected, cutting off the village leader. "I want a real mission! Not this little kid stuff!"

"You're such a pain Naruto." Akira thought with a roll of her eyes.

"How dare you!" scolded Iruka, the former chunin instructor of the young genin. "You're just a brand new genin with no experience. Like everyone else you go on missions to develop your skills and prove yourself!"

"Are you kidding!?" Naruto yelled. "Babysitting isn't a real mission, it's just a stupid-"

The young ninja was cut off when Kakashi hit him over the head with his fist. "Will you put a lid on it?" he sighed.

"Naruto." said Hiruzen, calmly. "You obviously don't understand the task you have been given."

The four genin looked up at the village leader as he further explained his point. "Different kinds of requests come into our village every day; from babysitting to assassinations." he informed us. "These requests are reviewed, analyzed, and then ranked A, B, C, or D, depending on their difficulty. We ninja are also ranked, depending on our skills; Hokage, Jonin, Chunin, and Genin at the bottom. As with missions, we assign ninja based on skills and experience. And if that mission is successful, we receive a fee that helps the village. As untried genin, you are given D-ranked missions for now."

Naruto folded his arms over his chest, slightly annoyed at the way the Hokage lectured them. "You're always lecturing me like you're my grandfather or something." the blonde yelled. "I'm not the little brat who used to pull pranks, I'm a ninja now, and I want a ninja mission." he turned back around and crossed his arms in a pout.

"I'm gonna hear about this later." Kakashi sighed under his breath and shook his head.

Iruka and Hiruzen exchanged a glance and chuckled. "Naruto wants us to know that he's not a brat, he's a former brat." the Third noted. "Alright, since you are so determined, very well. I'll give you a C-ranked mission." he announced, much to the team's surprise. "You'll be bodyguards on a journey."

"Really?" Naruto faced the Hokage, beaming. "Yay! So who is it? Are we guarding a princess? Or some big-wig counselor?"

"Don't be so impatient." said the Third. "I'll bring him in now. Send in our visitor."

The sliding panel doors opened and a tall man with tanned skin, grey hair and matching beard stepped through, taking a swig of sake from the bottle he held. "What the?" he asked, blinking. "A bunch of kids?" he took another long, swig from the bottle, looking over the four young ninja. He pointed to Naruto, "And you with the idiotic look on his face, you really expect me to believe you're a ninja?"

Naruto chuckled. "Who's the little one with the idiotic look?" he asked, looking between his teammates. The three other genin stepped closer to their blonde teammate and out of the four, Naruto was indeed the shortest. Upon realizing the insult was directed at him, Naruto narrowed his eyes, "I'll demolish you!" he yelled, being held back by the collar of his jacket by Kakashi.

"You can't demolish the client Naruto, it doesn't work like that." the jonin reminded, rolling his eye.

The client took another swig of sake before speaking. "I am Tazuna, a master bridge builder and I must return to my country." he introduced. "I'm building a bridge there that will change our world and I expect you to get me there safely, even if it means giving up your life."

"Very well then." stated the Third Hokage. "Squad Seven, you have your mission. Now go and carry it out."


Akira softly hummed to herself as she packed her bag for her mission. She tucked some of her silver hair behind her ear as she folded some sleepwear and placed the clothes over some blankets. Once everything was neatly packed, she zipped up her dark blue duffle bag and slung the strap over her shoulder, casting a glance at a few framed pictures on her desk.

She picked up the picture of a young woman, who looked around sixteen years of age, holding a newborn baby wrapped in a soft pink blanket. The woman had long, silver hair and fair skin and a bright smile on her lips as she looked at her daughter. Akira felt herself smile and ran her finger down the woman's image, "Look out for me, Mom." she muttered, setting the frame down. The picture next to it was of five ninja, two of them being Akira's mother and Kakashi, along with a brunette Kunoichi with purple face markings and a boy with black hair and dark eyes, wearing a pair of orange lensed goggles, and their Sensei, a male with spikey blonde hair.

There was a soft knock on her open bedroom door, where a woman in her early thirties with ash blonde hair pulled into a loose bun wearing a dark blue dress with a white apron over it and black sandals. "Harumi would be so proud of you, sweet girl." Botan said with a smile. "As am I."

"Thanks Aunt Botan." Akira returned her aunt's smile, adjusting the strap of her duffle. "Well, I should get going. It's a long journey to the Land of Water."

"Be careful dear." Botan patted the young girl's shoulder, before kissing her cheek.

"I will." the Kunoichi promised. "Give Uncle Rai my love when he gets back from his mission."

The older woman gave a nod and walked with her niece down the stairs and to the front door, watching as she ran down the street towards the entrance to the village, her long, silver hair swaying across her back.


After packing their bags for the journey ahead, Squad Seven met at Konohagakure's main gate. Naruto stepped across the threshold and pumped his fists into the air, "Yay!" he cheered with a wide grin.

"What are you so excited about Naruto?" Sakura asked with a huff.

"This is the first time I've ever left the village." the blonde ninja replied. "I'm a traveler now, believe it."

"Am I really supposed to trust my life with this runt?" Tazuna scoffed. "He's a joke."

Kakashi chuckled lightly, "He's with me, and I'm a Jonin." he reminded. "You'll be fine."

Naruto shot a glare at the old man over his shoulder, "Never insult a ninja, it's a big mistake." he warned. "Someday I'm gonna be Hokage and you'll look up to me! My name's Naruto Uzumaki, remember it!"

The bridge builder took another swig of sake, "Hokage are powerful and wise. You are puny and brainless." he stated. "The day you become Hokage, I'll sprout wings and fly."

The blonde ninja clenched his hands into fists and gritted his teeth. "I will become Hokage and then everyone will have to admit that I'm the top ninja, including you!"

The older male looked at him, "You can become Hokage ten times over, but to me you'll still be nobody, a loser." He walked past the young ninja and started down the path.

Before Naruto could attack the old man, he was held back by Kakashi, "I told you, you're supposed to protect the client, not attack him."

The other three genin on the squad just shook their heads and followed after their client.


"Say, Mr. Tazuna." Sakura spoke as the group continued on their journey. "You're country is the Land of Waves right?"

"Yeah, what of it?" the old carpenter scoffed.

The pinkett turned to the silver-haired Jonin, "Kakashi-sensei, there are ninja in that country too, right?"

"No." Kakashi answered. "There are no ninja in the Land of Waves. But in other countries there are hidden villages with their own cultures and customs, where ninja reside."

Kakashi then went on to tell his students about each of the hidden villages are the military strength for the lands in which they live. However, they are not ruled by any government, and instead rule themselves, making them all equal in terms of power. But the Land of Waves is a small island, and has a natural defense, the sea, so it doesn't have a need for ninja to protect it. He described the hidden villages within the five great nations, and that only the leaders of those village are permitted the name of 'Kage'.

"Don't worry, there are no ninja battles in a C-ranked mission." the Jonin assured.

"So we won't run into any foreign enemies then, right?" Akira asked, quirking her eyebrow.

Kakashi glanced down at his niece, "Not likely, Akira." he reassured with a smile. The group continued to walk the trail in silence, when suddenly, two ninja came out of the woods and wrapped bladed chains around Kakashi. In one swift motion, they bisected the high-ranking ninja.

Sakura and Akira covered their mouths in shock, their eyes wide in fear.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto stammered out.

The next moment, the two assailants appeared behind Naruto, who immediately froze up. One of them moved in for an attack, but was stopped by Sasuke, who threw a shuriken and kunai, pinning the chains to a nearby tree, saving Naruto's life. He braced his hands on their shoulders and kicked them in the jaws, sending them skidding back a few feet. However, the enemy ninja quickly recovered and split up, one headed straight for Tazuna and the other going after the young genin.

Thinking quick on their feet, Akira and Sakura each pulled out a kunai knife from their holsters and stood protectively in front of their client. Akira narrowed her onyx eyes and flexed her fingers around the hilt of her kunai, waiting for her chance to counter attack.

The silver-haired female's leg twitched, but before she could move, her raven haired teammate jumped in between them. "Sasuke, what the hell?" Akira yelled.

"So hot!" the pinkett squealed.

"Show off." the silver haired female scoffed.

The next instant, Kakashi appeared, grabbing the two ninja by the neck, applying just enough pressure to knock them unconscious. "Sorry I didn't step in earlier Naruto, it's not that I didn't want to, I just didn't think you would freeze like that." Kakashi said bluntly, earning a glare from the blonde genin. He then turned to Sasuke, Sakura, and Akira. "Nice work Sasuke, very smooth. You too Akira and Sakura."

Sakura smiled at the praise from her sensei, while Akira just nodded and sheathed her kunai knife.

Sasuke glanced over his shoulder in Naruto's direction. "You're not hurt are ya?" he asked in a mocking tone. "Scardy cat."

Naruto gritted his teeth and clenched his hand into a fist, moving to punch Sasuke, only to stop when Kakashi called out his name. "Don't move Naruto." the jonin advised. "These ninja have poison in their claws, we need to get it out of you quickly."

The blonde haired ninja looked down at the small gashes on his hand, "The poison is in your blood." Kakashi continued. "If you move around, it only spreads." He then glanced over his shoulder at their client, "By the way, Mr. Tazuna, we need to talk."

The old carpenter gasped and took half a step back, knowing his secret had been found out.


Kakashi tied up the two ninja to a nearby tree. "They're Chunin from Kirigakure, the Village Hidden in the Mist." he informed. "Their specialty is relentless attacks."

"How did you know about our ambush?" asked one of the ninja, his eyes narrowed in anger.

"A puddle, on a clear day, when it hasn't rained in weeks." Kakashi pointed out, remembering seeing the small puddle on the path from the village.

"In that case" Tazuna cleared his throat. "Why did you leave it for the genin to do the fighting?"

"I could have taken them out quickly." informed the silver haired jonin. "But I would have learned nothing. I needed to know who their target was and what they were after."

The old carpenter narrowed his eyes, "What are you getting at?" he demanded.

Kakashi turned to face him, "I needed to know if they were after us; ninja attacking ninja, or if they were after you; the master bridge builder." he answered sternly. "When you put in your request, you asked for standard protection from robbers and highway men. You didn't say that there were ninja after you, hunting you down. If we had known this it would've been a B-ranked mission or higher. Our task was simply to get you to your destination and protect you while you finish building your bridge. If we knew we were going to come up against enemy ninja, we would've staffed differently and charged for a B-ranked mission. Apparently you have your reasons, but lying to us is unacceptable. We are no longer in the scope of the mission."

"We're only genin, this is to advanced for our level of training." Akira added, bracing her hands on her hips. "We should head back to the village. I also think we need to treat Naruto's wound and get the poison out as soon as possible."

"Back in our village we can take him to a doctor." Sakura added.

Kakashi looked at Naruto and sighed. "Naruto's hand could become a problem. I guess we should go back to Konohagakure."

The aforementioned blonde grit his teeth at the Jonin's comment. He pulled kunai from the sheath on his leg and plunged the blade into the wound on his hand, letting out a faint grunt. Blood spilled from the reopened wound. "Naruto stop that!" Akira scolded, running up to him, but stopping short. "What the hell are you thinking?!"

"I've worked so hard to get here, pushing myself until it hurt, training alone for hours, anything to get stronger, to reach my dream." Naruto stated, biting his lip through the pain. "I will never back down again and have somebody else rescue me. I will never run away, and I won't ever loose to Sasuke." he continued. "Upon this wound, I make this pledge. Bridge builder, I'll complete this mission and protect you with this kunai knife." Naruto turned to face his team, his blue eyes blazing with the passion behind his pledge.

"Naruto, that was really cool how you took the poison out and all." Kakashi spoke up. "But if you lose any more blood, you're going to die."

All the vibrato Naruto had moments ago seemed to vanish with that statement. Kakashi stood beside his student, kneeling down eye-level with him. "Good idea to stop the bleeding now, seriously."

"No!" Naruto screamed. "I'm too young to have it end like this!"

Kakashi sighed and took Naruto's injured hand and examined the wound. From beside him, Akira sighed and shook her head, folding her arms over her chest, "Naruto you have a self abusive personality." the silver haired female pointed out. "It's called masochism." Sighing heavily, she took out a roll of bandage from her duffle bag and took her teammate's hand.

As Akira applied the bandage, Kakashi had noted the wound had already started to heal on its own. "Could this be the power of the Nine Tails?" he thought to himself.


Next time: Squad Seven find themselves up against a stronger foe, and Kakashi steps up to fight, revealing a shocking secret weapon. Find out what happens in "The Assassin of the Mist!"