*Chapter 4*: Chapter Three: Misreckoning

Previously:

The three genin, their jonin instructor, and Tazuna began their journey to the Land of Waves. Ambushed by Chunin ninja from Mist, the three genin acquitted themselves well, making quick work of the pair. Tazuna is confronted on his chicanery, and after some time admits his ommission of who wants him dead. Meanwhile, Naruto receives concern over his well being from one of his team mates, and isn't sure how to respond. They continue on their way, but on their arrival they encounter a decoy rabbit. Zabuza introduces himself, he and Kakashi square off, and as Kakashi reveals his Sharingan Eye, the fight looks like it's ready to begin. But then Sasuke notices- Naruto is manifesting the Sharingan as well! And not just any Sharingan, but the Mangekyou...

Chapter 3: Misreckoning

Shikamaru watched incredulously as Naruto's eye began to manifest some strange markings- and then in even deeper startlement he noted Sasuke's reaction to them. The normally reserved and taciturn heir to the Uchiha clan recoiled from Naruto as though he were a poisonous viper, and seemed poised between assaulting the blonde genin and fleeing him as fast as possible. Naruto noticed the reaction as well. "What are you-" He asked, reaching out a hand, but was cut off as Sasuke slapped his hand away.

"Get away from me, you monster!" He shouted.

Both Kakashi's and Zabuza's eyes darted in the direction of the genin at the sound of the outburst. Zabuza took the opportunity, with everyone distracted, and threw a cluster of shuriken at Tazuna. But Naruto moved first, turning away from Sasuke, and making a flurry of seals. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Suddenly there were three Narutos, each of whom slashed a kunai at an incoming shuriken, deflecting them.

Kakashi turned his head to face Zabuza again, but the nuke-nin was already in motion. In a single economic leap he was standing on the surface of the nearby river, hands a blur.

"Witness first-hand the finest of the Shinobi arts: Kirigakure no Jutsu." Said Zabuza, as mist thickened around them all, obscuring first him from view, and then each other from the sight of Team seven.

"Our conversation has been rather pleasant so far, yet sadly I'm on rather a tight schedule to kill the old man. But as much as it galls me to admit it, I think I'm going to have to kill all of you first." Zabuza's voice carried unsteadily through the mist, making it impossible to pinpoint him by sound.

"All of you- stay on your toes." Said Kakashi. "Mamochi Zabuza is a famous master of the art of silent killing. And I haven't necessarily mastered every aspect of the Sharingan, so don't let your guard down."

There was a minute of tense silence. Each of them strained their eyes to garner any sort of warning about what was lurking in the mist. Kakashi began making frantic seals with his hands.

The others watched warily, nervously. Sasuke began to tremble.

"Sasuke." The voice made him jump. "Calm down. Even if he gets me, I'll still protect you."

Sasuke looked over ahead, where he could faintly see Kakashi smiling at him. "I will never let my comrades die."

A voice from the mist replied, "I wouldn't bet on that."

And with no further warning, Zabuza was among them. "Game over."

Dammit! Thought Shikamaru. No shadows- the light is too diffuse!

What the? Thought Sasuke.

SHIT! Thought Naruto. Now what?

TAZUNA. KAGE BUNSHIN AND KAWARIMI.

Yeah! And one more jutsu with it... thought Naruto in reply.

Watching Kakashi use the Sharingan taught Naruto a lot. He tumbled with Tazuna, leaving two of his Kage Bunshin behind, one of whom was Henge'd to look like Tazuna. Both clones were abruptly knocked to the ground as Kakashi's Mizu Bunshin grappled against Zabuza roughly, their blades locked.

But in this case, bigger turned out not to be better- Kakashi's kunai was much more usable in the point blank grapple than the cleaving blade, and Zabuza's mizu bunshin came apart in a spray of water. Kakashi's own mizu bunshin was cloven from behind as Zabuza emerged from the mist- and the real Kakashi was standing right behind him, a kunai at his throat. "Game over." Kakashi said.

"Too easy..." Muttered Shikamaru with a frown.

"Huh?" Said Naruto's Kage bunshin. "Why?"

"Zabuza's smart." Shikamaru replied. "He relishes distractions and misdirection. He talks to buy himself time to build up chakra for an attack, or to get into position. He grandstands as a smokescreen to conceal what he's really doing."

Sasuke nodded. "So the real question remains- what is he doing now?"

Zabuza stood motionless, an enigmatic look in his eyes, while Kakashi held the kunai to his throat. Gently, he began laughing. "Game over, you say?" He said. "Not quite. But I commend you on your skills- it seems your reputation is not without merit! You not only copied my Mizu Bunshin, but even did so while penetrating my Kirigakure Jutsu. And by having your Bunshin say something you yourself would have, you focussed my attention on the bunshin while you copied my Kirigakure, waiting for me to make my move! Luckily for me..."

Zabuza's voice suddenly came from behind Kakashi as he said, "I'm not that easy to fool!"

Kakashi's kunai dispelled the mizu bunshin in front of him, but Zabuza- the real one- was already in motion. A desperate drop carried Kakashi out of the arc of the deadly sword, and Zabuza altered the arc of its swing to drive it into the ground, transferring the momentum of the swing into a spin that threw the full force of his strength into a brutal kick that caught Kakashi off balance, unable to dodge. Kakashi flew in a low, long trajectory that carried him clear over the Tazuna-bunshin into the river beyond. Zabuza rushed Tazuna, tearing the sword from the ground, but skidded to a halt as he saw the dealy glint of steel littering the ground in his path. Naruto grabbed Tazuna and carried him out of the line of danger; Zabuza whipped his head towards the river.

Can't afford to lose sight of him, Zabuza thought, And this is the perfect chance to finish him anyway.

Kakashi surfaced with an effort. Why is the water so heavy? He asked himself.

Suddenly Zabuza was behind him, hands blurring. Kakashi whirled to face him, but in the restricting water, he was too slow. He turned just in time to see the laughter in Zabuza's eyes as the water rushed up around him.

The three genin watched in dismay as Zabuza completed the water prison. "Heh. That prison is inescapable. You're trapped." Zabuza looked over in their direction, then back at Kakashi. "You running around free makes it decidedly onerous to go about my job. With you immobilized, I can deal with the others more expediently, and finish you off later, if drowning doesn't do it first."

Several moments passed as a Mizu Bunshin swelled up from the surface of the river. Naruto's clone narrowed his eyes as the Zabuza clone approached. "And the little ninja wannabes... Especially the bunny hugger. Trying to comfort a decoy rabbit- and you dare wear the hitai-ate?"

The mizu bunshin snorted, making a dismissive gesture. "A real ninja would rate a listing in my bingo book, but a fool like you? We don't call your kind ninja." The clone faded into the mist. "We call them..."

Naruto's clone was thrown violently forward as Zabuza's mizu bunshin kicked him in the back. Naruto's clone skidded a dozen feet before collapsing in a spray of water.

"...What?" Said Zabuza.

"I'd say you may want to update your bingo book, Zabuza..." Said Kakashi thoughtfully. "It seems to me you've been outfoxed."

At this, the Tazuna Bunshin stood up, and in a puff of smoke transformed back into Naruto. "Whoops." Said the second shadow clone. "I think you may have been looking for me."

"Not really." Said another Mizu Bunshin from behind him. "You should get over yourself. Neither clones nor clothes make a ninja... Brat."

Naruto's second clone disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"That the best you got, kid?" Zabuza's clone sneered. "I'll give you this. You've got balls. You don't stand a chance, but you've still got balls."

Naruto leaped out of the shadows at the clone, who looked entirely unsurprised. Catching the boy in mid air, Zabuza stripped off the hitai-ate while delivering a solid stomp kick to his chest, flinging him backwards into a tree trunk. The headband flopped to the ground, where the clone stepped on it.

"Leave the hitai-ate for a real ninja." Said Zabuza.

Naruto stood up, blood trickling from his lower lip. His hair hung over his eyes. "Hey, freak. What's life like without eyebrows?"

Zabuza shot a quick look upwards before his face grew dark with budding anger. "You..."

"Sasuke." Naruto said. "You have it too, don't you."

Sasuke took a step backwards. "W-what? How dare you-"

"Sharingan. Don't lie to me. You have the bloodline, and you've already awakened it." Naruto spat out blood and wiped his lip.

Sasuke hesitated, but someone else answered for him. "He does." Said Shikamaru, looking closely at Naruto. His lip isn't swelling. I wonder if Zabuza noticed?

"Shikamaru, you're smart." Said Naruto. "You'll know what to do and when to do it."

Shikamaru's eyes widened. Of course!

Naruto looked back at Zabuza's mizu bunshin, whose eyes widened slightly at the sight of Naruto's sharingan. "Sasuke.

Let's go."

Sasuke hesitated. "I don't trust you- I know where the Mangekyou comes from!"

Naruto snorted. "And?"

"You murdered your best friend! And you don't even care!" Sasuke shouted. "Just for power!"

"Now isn't the time. We need to-" Naruto began, but was interrupted.

"Murdered your best friend?" Zabuza said with a raised eyebrow. "Maybe I was wrong about you, kid. Maybe you do have what it takes, after all."

Naruto just shrugged at him. "As future Hokage, I'd better." And he lunged forward.

Naruto began shedding close like water. Shuriken flew in all directions, kunai flashed, and momentarily Zabuza's clone was obscured. Then his monstrous sword whirled in a hurricane of tempered steel, and the crowd of Naruto's vanished in puffs of smoke. One flew backwards, tossing a windmill shuriken to Sasuke. Sasuke got the drift immediately. He spun the weapon open and threw it, aiming not for the clone but for the real Zabuza.

"Not bad, kid- you at least had the sense-" But Zabuza's bunshin got no further, as the Hitai-ate under his foot transformed into the real Naruto. "Surprise, you jerk!" He said, bracing his foot into Zabuza's crotch and brutally kicking him upwards, directly into the path of the kunai thrown by Shikamaru. Zabuza's clone came apart in a spray of water.

Zabuza was so startled by the sudden turn against his mizu bunshin he almost missed the catch on the incoming windmill shuriken- and the one in its shadow missed his leaping feet by only a fraction of an inch.

"Not bad for an amateur!" He scoffed- until he felt a hand catch his ankle in a grip of iron- the second shuriken had transformed into a Kage Bunshin Naruto. "Surprise number two!"

A weight appeared in Zabuza's catching hand, before that wrist was also seized. "And surprise number three!" Said the other had-been shuriken. The two clones used their weight to try and hold Zabuza still for the follow up pairs of kunai thrown by Shikamaru and Sasuke, but Zabuza twisted out of their path, tucking himself into a side spin that brought his opposing elbow into the Naruto clone in his left hand, while the clone hanging from his right foot received a vicious stomp kick from his left foot. Both clones vanished in smoke while Zabuza tucked and rolled backwards, righting himself to his feet before he could sink below the surface of the water. Kakashi, now freed, also stood on the water in front of him, kunai in his hand.

Zabuza let the anger in his eyes calm, before he spoke. "You've got next to no training, kid. Minimal skills. Your foot work is sloppy and your control is wasteful to say the least."

"Did good enough for you, though, didn't I?" Naruto said in response.

"Yeah. You did." Zabuza admitted. "And here I am in the middle of a Sharingan training ground."

Zabuza leaped backwards into a mangrove tree near the shoreline. "I'm no fool. One sharingan at a time is bad enough.

I'm not getting paid enough to take on three."

Naruto's eyes narrowed. "You're giving up? Just like that, then?"

Zabuza's eyes smiled. "Well, not really..." He said. "Actually, I need to rethink my strategy... Unless..."

"Unless what?" Said Sasuke.

"Well, I hate to leave a job empty handed... But..." Zabuza gave a momentary pause. "I can arrange for you to have an easier time with this assignment of yours." Nobody answered, so after a few seconds, he continued. "You see, I've been having some difficulties of late."

"Shinobi hunters." Said Kakashi. "From Kirigakure. And the failed coup against the Mizukage."

Zabuza raised an eyebrow. "Just so. Although I'm surprised you know of it."

Kakashi replied, "When you attempted to murder the Mizukage and defected from Kirigakure, your actions were reported to us. Since then, you've been trying to raise funds for another try, and barely staying ahead of the Shinobi hunters." Zabuza said nothing, while Kakashi went on. "It's why you would stoop to work for a parasite like Gato."

"Kirigakure is no friend of Konoha- why should you care?" Zabuza countered. "Even so, I can still be jhired away from him.

Make me a better offer."

"We don't have the money-" Kakashi began, but Zabuza interrupted him.

"I don't want money from you." Zabuza said.

Shikamaru listened warily. No, he thought. He doesn't want money. Even Nuke-nin can get that anywhere, doing odd jobs. He's trying to rebuild his army to attempt another coup against Kirigakure. Money is just a means to an end, and if you can get that end without resorting to money...

Shikamaru shot a look over at Naruto. The real question, he thought to himself, is what Naruto's answer will be.

Sasuke focused his attention on Naruto's neck, kunai in hand and Sharingan activated. Once Zabuza asked the question, he'd know- and if Naruto was willing to accept the offer, he would die.

Naruto watched Zabuza carefully. No money? He asked himself. So what DOES he want?

WHAT DO ALL HUMANS WITH POWER WANT? The Kyuubii replied. MORE POWER. AND WHEN ONE CAN NO LONGER INCREASE ONE'S OWN POWER, HE THEN SEEKS TO ACQUIRE MORE POWERFUL SUBORDINATES.

Subordinates? HEY! You mean he wants one of us?

Naruto could almost hear the long suffering sigh of irritation. HE WANTS NONE OF THE OTHERS, YOU FOOL. HE WANTS YOU AND I.

But he doesn't- I haven't even USED you yet! Naruto protested in his mind.

NOR DID YOU NEED TO... YET. BUT I DO NOT THINK HE WOULD HAVE DARED THIS IF YOU HAD. The Kyuubii paused. DID YOU WANT TO ACCEPT?

What? Why would I ever go with him?

HE WAS STRONG ENOUGH TO DEFEAT KAKASHI SENSEI. HE MIGHT BE ABLE TO TRAIN YOU FAR BETTER.

But Kakashi knows how to use the Sharingan! He's famous for how well he uses it- you said so yourself! And I barely even know how to activate it!

PERHAPS... BUT THE SHARINGAN IS NOT THE ONLY TOOL IN YOUR ARSENAL- AND BY FAR IS IT NOT THE ONLY PATH TO ADVANCED JUTSU THAT YOU KNOW. In Naruto's mind, an image flashed of a copied scroll kept hidden in his backpack- the work of four days and nights of constant writing before returning the master back to the village under cover of darkness. SHOULD HE BE ABLE TO BRIDGE THE GAP BETWEEN YOUR LEVEL OF CONTROL, AND THAT NEEDED FOR THE MASTERY OF WHAT ELSE REMAINS IN THAT SCROLL...

Naruto thought about this long and hard. A memory flashed in his mind's eye as he began to waver...

("In the end... if you protect them... you... win...")

At last, Zabuza looked in Naruto's direction. "Well, kid? What do you say?"

Kakashi watched anxiously as Naruto favored Zabuza with the kind of grin that hadn't been seen on his face since the incident with Mizuki. "Sounds like fun... But I'd rather pry my teeth out with a pitchfork."

Kakashi let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. Naruto continued, "And when you leave, don't bother to come back. Next time I see you, I'll kill you. Your head would make a great peace offering coming from the future Hokage to the Mizukage."

Everyone present shivered at the casual malice in Naruto's voice, even Zabuza. But the Nuke-nin settled himself quickly.

"Don't worry, kid. Cause if there IS a next time, you won't see me- and your eyes can't save you from what you can't see." By the time he'd finished speaking, Zabuza had already faded into the mist, and within seconds the mist too faded away. Zabuza was already gone.

Kakashi pulled his headband back down over his left eye. "Well, I'll agree with him on one thing: You did a fine job, but you all need more training."

Naruto nodded with a smile, before a strange look came over his face, as his sharingan eyes suddenly reverted to normal and his legs turned to water, pitching him face forward on the ground.

Tazuna looked down at Naruto, the genin already unconscious. "Will he be alright?" He asked.

Kakashi shrugged. "The Sharingan is rather... hard on those who were not born to it. And on top of this he is suffering from Chakra depletion. Just the chakra depletion alone, he should recover from quickly, but depending on how long he was using the Sharingan-"

"Um..." Said Shikamaru, "The whole fight, pretty much- along with a couple of his Kage Bunshin using it as well."

Kakashi winced, then sighed. "He needs a place to stay and rest, then."

Tazuna nodded cheerfully. "You can rest up at my place, then."

As Kakashi slung Naruto over his shoulder, Tazuna laughed. "Must be pretty humiliating- four of you fighting only one person, and barely managing a draw! But then," He said, musing, "I suppose I got what I paid for..."

The dark looks granted by Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Kakashi went unnoticed. With a fueful tone in his voice, Kakashi said, "And it appears that we will be sticking around for a while." In spite of our employer, he didn't add out loud. End Chapter Three

-AN:

Well, that would appear to be chapter three. (Congratulates self on mastery of stating the obvious. Next goal: Prove sunlight.)

I know that Naruto starts off by going Rogue. He comes back, in order to prove himself to the village that he will be their protector, even if they hate him. In this one, he has no friends, and doesn't really try anymore. Remember the word "Trust." It will be important later- mostly in a later flashback scene that involves a memory hinted at above. I DO have a plan for this story, although beyone one or two chapters ahead it's still pretty damned fluid. Hinata is the likeliest pairing, but the hints of this won't even show up until the Chuunin exams, and I have one more "C" rank mission I'd like to throw in before I get to that. Plus, I've not yet fully fleshed it out yet, but Naruto may end up going AWOL again.

A comment left by a reader was that Tazuna was far meaner to Naruto than in canon. All I can say to this, is, that Naruto never humiliated Tazuna by sticking a knife to his ribs in canon either. Instead of seeing Naruto as an annoying, if harmless, kid, he now sees him as a loose cannon who threatened him to prove an unimportant point. This of course could lower anyone's opinion, especially the opinion of a man who isn't being as honest about the job he's hiring for as he should be. People with feelings of guilt often look for a target to lash out at.

I've also received some questions. For instance, If the Yondaime was really Naruto's Godfather rather than his father, what happened to his parent? The answer to this... IS A SECRET! Well, for now, at any rate. I've already planned this out a little, but if it turns out to be providing a storyline hole then I'll likely have to change it a bit. But until then I don't want to ruin the surprise. No, Naruto doesn't have a native Kekkei Genkai, and I don't plan for the Uzumaki clan to be a powerful, lost clan like the Uchiha. Been done to death. I'll say this much- it's Naruto's mother that is the big deal in this story.

On a side note, does anyone remember the full name of the ANBU Root director Danzou? He features in this fic, rather prominently, but I'd like to know more about him, especially since my knowledge of him stems from some subbed anime imports from Japan that a buddy of mine loaned me about six months ago, meaning I'm lucky to remember even that his name is Danzou... at least, I think that's what it was... XP

Thanks to all of you who have read my story- I hope you like it so far, and feel free to leave any comments, critiques, complaints, concerns, and cookies in the reviews panel. I don't spaz out over flames but I prefer they not be TOO common, as it makes it hard for people to discuss back and forth in the reviews about the story.

Til Next time!

-AXENOME