Previously:

"!" Kakashi whipped his head around as the Zabuza he had just stabbed popped like a water balloon.

"Die!" The Zabuza behind him roared as he swung his sword.

"Gyaah!!" Sakura screamed as he cleaved their teacher in half. They were all immensely relived when that Kakashi turned into water. It was just another fake! Zabuza's eyes widened.

'Water clone justu!' He thought, taken aback. 'No way! He copied it in this mist!?'

"Don't move." Kakashi said darkly as he suddenly appeared right behind him, holding a kunai to his neck. "It's over!!"

Chapter 13: We're Ninja!

"W-Wow!!" Naruto exclaimed, amazed.

"Haha!" Sakura laughed in relief.

'Badass…!!' April thought with the hint of a smirk, giving their teacher a mental thumbs up.

"… Hehe." Zabuza laughed. "Hehehe… It's over?" He asked mockingly.

"!" April frowned as Kakashi furrowed his brow. A cornered enemy was laughing confidently… That was never a good sign.

"You don't get it." Zabuza told Kakashi. "There's no way you can defeat me with your monkey-like imitations.

"…"

"Heheh… But that was impressive of you." Zabuza said. "When you gave that little speech, you had already copied my water clone jutsu. You had your clone say those words to attract my attention, while the real you hid in the mist and watched me. Nice plan, but… I'm also not that easy." He stated ominously.

"!!!" Kakashi said when he realized the real Zabuza was now right behind him.

"!" April gasped as the Zabuza in front of Kakashi collapsed. "Damn!!" She cursed. Another water clone!

"That one's a fake, too!!?" Naruto shouted incredulously. Kakashi whipped his head around as Zabuza started to swing his sword. Kakashi flattened himself into a low crouch to duck the deadly attack that should have cleaved him in two. Zabuza followed through by letting the moment of his sword dig it into the ground as he let go of the handle and finished spinning himself around, placing his other hand on the end of the handle to brace himself as he sent Kakashi flying with a kick before he could fully recover.

"!!" April's eyes widened in shock as she watched their teacher sail through the air over her head, and his eyes met hers. He gave her a look. Move.

'Now!' Zabuza thought, charging forward. April dived to the side, managing to get out of his way just in time to avoid being cut down to clear his path. "!!" Zabuza said as he skidded to an abrupt halt when he noticed the tri-pronged caltrops Kakashi had spread to slow him down. 'Makibishi…!' He thought. "Hmph, how foolish…" He remarked as Kakashi landed in the water. And to think, he almost got him with such a simple trick… too bad Kakashi picked the worse possible place to land.

"!" April gasped in realization. So, that's what he was up to…

"Sensei!!" Naruto yelled.

"Kakashi-sensei… got knocked down?' Sakura thought, stunned.

'He's also strong in taijutsu…' Sasuke thought, furrowing his brow.

'No wonder Sensei told me to move… I doubt the taijutsu techniques I know for fighting against a sword would have work on Zabuza. He's way too strong; my eyes can barely keep up with his movements! Even Sensei just barely managed to avoid taking damage as he let himself get thrown… If I try to help now, I'll just get in the way!' April thought, clenching her fists as Zabuza flickered out of sight, concealing himself in the mist again.

"!" Kakashi was surprised to find that he was having trouble moving. 'What? This water is heavy…'

"Sensei, get out of the water!!!" April yelled, realizing something was wrong when she saw his sluggish movements and saw a faint shadow appear in the mist behind him.

"!!" Kakashi said, alarmed when he realized what was happening.

"Heh, Fool." Zabuza said as he quickly performed several hand seals before he could escape. 'Water Prison Jutsu!'

'Damn!!' Kakashi cursed mentally as he suddenly enveloped in a sphere of swirling chakra-infused water. 'I thought I could use the water for cover, but it turned out to be a big mistake.'

"Heheheh, I now have you in my special inescapable prison." Zabuza told him. Kakashi could hear the smirk in his voice. "You give me a hard time when you can move. Now then, Kakashi… We can finish things later. First, I'll take care of them." He raised his free hand and formed a seal. 'Water Clone Justu.'

"!" Kakashi said, alarmed. 'He's stronger than I expected…!'

"!" The others gasped as a Zabuza's new water clone rose up put of the water directly in front of them.

"Heheh, wearing forehead protectors and acting like real ninjas…" The clone laughed mockingly at the four genin. "But you know what? A real ninja is someone who has survived numerous brushes with death."

'By that definition, I might actually be a little over qualified…' April thought with a straight face.

"In other words, you can start calling yourself a ninja once you're good enough to be listed in my Bingo book. You four shouldn't be referred to as ninjas." The clone finished, flickering out sight.

"!!" Naruto gasped. 'He disappeared again!!' April's eyes widened.

"Naruto!!" She shouted, shooting towards him as the clone appeared right in front of him, delivering a kick to the head that was so strong, it not only sent Naruto flying, but took off his forehead protector as well. April pivoted on her heel and changed her trajectory slightly, while Zabuza's clone slammed his foot down on top of the forehead protector, grinding it into the dirt.

"You're just brats." The clone said disdainfully.

"Naruto!!" Sakura cried in alarm as she and Sasuke watched her run alongside Naruto as he sailed through the air. His posture… He wasn't taking the fall right!!

"Safe!!" April said as she slid in front of Naruto, managing to catch him just in time.

"Oh? Not too bad, for a brat." The real Zabuza remarked, watching as he held Kakashi prisoner. "That one might actually be worth killing." But even if that one could keep up with his speed, she still didn't stand a chance. Her chakra levels were pathetic.

"Guh!!" Kakashi grit his teeth. It looked like April had managed to get Zabuza's attention in the worst way possible! "You guys!!! Take Tazuna-san and run away!!!" He shouted desperately at his students. He wasn't about to let them die, not again!! "You have no chance of beating him!! As long as he's keeping me trapped in this prison, he can't move. The water clone can't go very far from his real body. Just run away now!!"

They all looked terrified. Even Sasuke had broken out into a cold sweat. The only one who looked even remotely calm was April, but her fists were clenched so tightly that her knuckles were white, and her nails were threating to cut through the skin of her palms.

'This is a jōnin, a real ninja.' Naruto thought, shaking in fear. 'At this rate… I'm really… really… going to die!!' Naruto shifted into a crouching position to push himself up off of the ground and run away, but he felt a sharp pain in his bandaged hand, reminding him it was wounded. "!" He gasped as he stared down at it, remembering the promise he had made earlier. He clenched his fist.

"Run?" April asked through gritted teeth as she straightened up. "You must be joking, Sensei!" She said sternly, surprising the others. "That stopped being an option the moment you got caught." She looked down as a drop of blood fell from one of her hands. "Even if we run, Zabuza will get to us sooner or later, and even if we try to surround Tazuna-san to protect him, we can't block his attacks. He'll go right through us again. Without you there, it'll be a slaughter!"

"!!" Kakashi gasped, realizing she was right. Zabuza laughed. At least one of them understood their current situation.

"But most importantly… I don't want to let any of my comrades die, either!!!" She finished resolutely, raising her head to reveal eyes burning brightly with determination. Kakashi's eyes widened.

'April…' He thought.

"!" Sakura and Sasuke said, remembering their teacher's promise to protect them.

"That's right." Naruto said as he pushed himself up to stand beside her, remembering how he had earned his forehead protector from Iruka-sensei and that first lesson Kakashi had taught them about what was most important for a ninja as he kept his eyes focused on it. "I became a ninja, and decided I wouldn't run away anymore… I won't run!!" He roared as he charged recklessly toward the clone.

"No!! Don't!!" Kakashi yelled.

"He…" Sasuke said, taken aback.

"Naruto, what are you thinking!?" Sakura shouted frantically.

"Hmph, Idiot!!" Zabuza sneered.

WHAM!! SHING! SHING! SHING!

"!" Sakura gasped as Naruto was sent tumbling back with another kick, but even more surprising was when they all realized the clone had to stepped to the side for a moment in order to dodge three kunai. It had been so fast, only Zabuza and Kakashi had caught the moment they were thrown, but everyone could see the kunais that were now embedded in the ground behind the water clone.

'Those kunai had left April's hands only a fraction of a second after Naruto charged… She knew what he was going to do and threw them to distract the clone, in case it tried a second attack, while Naruto got away!' Kakashi realized.

"What are you doing jumping in all by yourself!!?" Sakura yelled at Naruto. "Genins like us have no chance against him!!!" She expected wanted to scold him too.

"Did you get it?" April asked instead.

"!" Sakura and Sasuke said, surprised by her calm reaction.

'Huh? Get what…?' Sakura wondered as Naruto started to straighten up, grunting in pain. He had managed to catch himself that time, but it was still a rough landing, and that had been a really mean kick. He held up his forehead protector in response to April's question, gripping it firmly in his injured hand.

'His forehead protector…!?' Sakura thought, surprised.

"…" Sasuke said as he, Kakashi and Zabuza looked on while Naruto finished straightening up.

"Hey… you eyebrowless freak…" Naruto said, addressing the Zabuza that had just kicked him, as blood trickled down the corner of his mouth. A vein throbbed on the clone's head. "Put this in your bingo book… The man who will one day become Hokage…" He raised his forehead protector and put it back on. "… is the leaf ninja, Naruto Uzumaki!!" He finished boldly with a smirk, staring down his enemy as he pulled the knot tight.

'Naruto…' Kakashi thought as a vein throbbed on the real Zabuza's forehead.

'Oh… That midget…' Tazuna thought, a little impressed by the kid's guts. 'He's not as super useless as I first thought…'

"Sasuke!! Lend me your ear!!" Naruto said.

"What is it?" Sasuke asked.

"I have a plan." Naruto stated confidently.

'He came up with a plan in this situation…?' Sasuke thought, furrowing his brow. "Hmph… teamwork, from you?" He said aloud.

"Today's just full of surprises, isn't it?" April quipped. She had a feeling she knew what Naruto's plan was if he was involving Sasuke, and she approved.

'What's this feeling?' Sakura wondered as she watched them, blushing. 'This is Naruto…'

"Now… Let's get wild…" Naruto said, grinning, as he wiped the blood from his mouth.