Kakashi enjoyed the looks of stupor on his new students faces, "In the shinobi world, those who break the rules are considered trash," he began, "but those who abandon their allies are less than that to me." he explained.
"This whole survival test was a personal test of character?" Naruto asked and the jonin nodded.
Sasuke sighed with relief, "The whole point," Kakashi began as Naruto took up his weapon and cut Sakura's ropes deftly, the jonin was a little annoyed but let the fifty ryo length of rope go, "was to test if you could act calm under pressure in an unfair situation and act for the good of the mission as a whole." he explained.
Naruto had not realized that much, he just thought they needed to work together because Kakashi wasn't holding back enough. He decided not to mention where his thought processes ended though, best to let his sensei think he was a team player.
"Do you see that stone?" Kakashi asked, pointing his three students at a stone with names carved all over it, "That's a stone where heroes have their names carved to remember them, my friends names are all there." he explained and while the blonde wanted to insist his name should be there he held his tongue, "This is the KIA memorial, every shinobi killed in action goes on this stone or another like it."
Naruto supposed his name would never be on there then.
"So, we'll meet for team drills and our first mission same time tomorrow." Kakashi said suddenly before he turned to leave.
Naruto handed his bento to Sakura, "I'm going to go, see you guys tomorrow." he said with a forced smile and a wave. The other two genin of the newly formed cell seven waved back mutely, not sure what to make of their odd sensei or their odd teammate.
Naruto had a proper lunch at Ichiraku's, he was sure ninja udon was healthy, it had all those weird things in it that tasted okay under the noodles. Plus Teuchi always gave him narutomaki, probably a joke about his name but he liked them and fish was healthy right?
After that Naruto returned to his apartment, although it was more of a safe place to temporarily leave his body while he went to the dream, "It is nice to see you frequent this place, good ryoshi, you seem to be finding your worth in the waking world." the doll greeted kindly.
Naruto smiled in return, "I passed my genin graduation exam, the second hidden one I guess," he told her as he got up, "my sensei is a bit of a weirdo though." he added, "Hours late two days in a row, weird excuses, put more emphasis on making sure we look after each other as a team than actually testing our abilities. I guess we must have done okay or he would have sent us back though."
The doll nodded along as he spoke, "I hope he teaches you the things you wish to know about being a shinobi, as I wish to help you become the best ryoshi you can be."
Naruto smiled at the kind words, "Thanks." he said, he could almost forget the journal entries about how she was so kind to everyone who came to the dream, and would be so even if he mistreated her.
Naruto spent some time exploring the dungeons before he returned to the surface through the dream, he was glad the sun wasn't setting yet and set out to get himself a pocket watch. Maybe a new jacket too.
However he quickly found out that watches were far above his current budget, even the cheap ones were a bit much, he still needed to eat. Okay the jury was still out on if he actually needed to eat but he wanted to eat and he was not going to butcher the monsters in the dungeons and cook them.
Neither the survival guide nor the journals made mention of that, so Naruto pushed the thought from his mind as he looked for an affordable jacket. He found one in multiple sizes, but instead of blue it had black trim and more of it.
Which meant less orange, but it was still orange, "Naruto-kun?" a vaguely familiar voice caught his attention. The boy turned to meet the pale eyes of a girl from his graduating class who mostly left him alone, a form covering jacket covered her upper body and her short dark hair was in a hime cut.
"Oh," Naruto took a moment to recall her name, "hey Hinata-chan." he greeted, he was pretty sure he was supposed to be polite with girls while it didn't matter as much with other guys.
"Hi." Hinata stammered in response, not meeting his eyes, not that he was trying to meet hers himself, "Um, have you been okay? Did your team pass the secondary graduation test?" she asked.
Naruto smirked, "Yeah, my sensei is kind of weird but I figured out his angle and passed his test earlier today." he explained proudly.
"Today?" Hinata asked, "Kurenai-sensei had us do it yesterday." she muttered and Naruto's eye twitched, "Well, uh, congratulations for passing, but I more meant that you seemed, uh, that is to say you've been acting differently?"
Naruto knew he'd been noticed but he wasn't sure what to say if he was called out, his first instinct was to blurt out he found out he had the kitsune sealed inside him to explain his weirdness but he couldn't just jump right to using that excuse.
"Uh, just took my training a bit more seriously lately," Naruto excused, "I guess I stressed myself out making sure I'd finally pass." he lied.
Hinata frowned, "You must have been exhausted." she muttered and the boy recalled when his eyes had deep dark bags under them.
"Hey I'm tough," Naruto assured, puffing out his chest, "I can handle a little stress, and I passed!" he reminded her with a grin that wasn't entirely forced.
Hinata blushed but managed to smile back, "I-I should get h-home." she stammered before turning and retreating from the blonde genin, who cocked his head to the side as he wondered if anything he'd done might have alarmed her or given away what he was.
Naruto turned back to the jacket that was similar to his currently blood stained one, and he supposed it would do as a spare, he could afford one in his size. With that bought he returned home, set his bloody clothes to wash, and pulled out the hiragana copy of Icha Icha he'd retrieved from the dream.
The blonde was curious what the big deal was and why Kakashi had read it even during a fight, he guessed it must just be less smutty than he initially expected if the jonin was comfortable reading it in public. He was swiftly proven wrong, "He reads this in front of people." the blonde boy muttered numbly.
It took until the blonde genin's clothes were clean for the boy to recover, and barely enough to set his clothes to dry. He held the orange book at arm's length as he eyed it, sure he invented Oiroke no Jutsu, but that was to defeat perverts not to be one.
Ignore the part where the blonde needed to peep on the woman's side of the public bath house to perfect his ninjutsu, and the fact he enjoyed doing so. Naruto never peeped without a good excuse, and research for a ninjutsu to defeat perverts was a good excuse no matter how much the women denied it. They were in denial, not him.
Once Naruto's clothes finished drying the boy was recovered from the shock of reading detailed and graphic descriptions of fellatio enough to take his clothes up to his apartment, hiding the book between them in the basket.
Without a watch or portable clock of some kind Naruto was hesitant to return to the dream, so he made himself an instant ramen dinner as he considered his options. He could just practice his ninjutsu in his apartment, but the blood guaranteed improvement.
The blood improvement was also noticeably and unnaturally fast, so maybe Naruto was due for some normal training. The boy leaned out his window and plucked a leaf from a nearby branch he could barely reach.
Naruto put the leaf on his pillow, had dinner, showered, dressed in his pajamas, and spent the night sitting on his bed practicing holding the leaf to his forehead with his chakra. Nokogiribocho was on the bed with him, within arms reach just in case.
Naruto decided he hated D rank missions, but they paid money which he could use to get a cheap pocket watch to shove in his tool pouch. He blew off steam from being annoyed at the chores disguised as missions by using the dream to return to the depths, the desiccated husks felt his misplaced aggression.
Down beneath Konohagakure no Sato did Naruto find something odd, "Serrated kunai?" he wondered, but he could see while they were indeed throwing blades they were not kunai. He vaguely recalled shuriken could take a shape similar, a more knife-like throwing blade.
Naruto picked the five serrated blades up and put them in his shuriken holster, he decided he'd just research the journals when he found somewhere new to rest or returned. With that thought he checked his watch and realized he should hurry back, but he opened one more gate and silently stepped down the stone stairs to a second door.
The blonde had not found a treasure room before, unfortunately it seemed to be occupied by a scorpion as large as the spider that killed Naruto that one time. The blonde reacted instantly to his fight or flight response, his Nokogiribocho unfolded to full length and the cleaver side came down through striking stinger tail and into the face of the monstrous scorpion.
Naruto's body didn't relax until he checked his corners, then he sent in a kage bunshin to check for traps. It found none even after doing things that would trigger traps, even opening the large golden chest, "Hey, Oyabun," the bunshin called, "you may want to see this."
Naruto walked up to it, he looked around at the golden chalices, urns, and chain necklaces. He realized sadly that he had no way to actually make any money on anything because he could not explain where he got any of it.
Still the boy looked in the chest and frowned at what his bunshin wanted him to see, "Is that a gun?" he asked bluntly.
"Looks like it." Naruto answered himself through his bunshin, he decided that was weird and dispelled it.
Naruto knew what a gun was, logically anyway, they'd been invented from fireworks to help ashigaru keep up with samurai and shinobi but failed spectacularly. They still saw use as a hunting tool and civil defense weapon, but no shinobi bothered with them and the boy had no idea if samurai used them or not.
The fact that they were a hunting tool stuck in Naruto's mind and the boy picked it up, he decided to back track to the operating theater and see if the doll or the journals had anything to say about firearms. From what little the boy could tell the pistol he had found was an older model than farmers used for defending livestock.
"A flintlock pistol," The doll explained when prompted, "specially made to shoot quicksilver bullets and convert the blood of ryoshi into makeshift bullets." she explained.
Naruto decided he needed to learn how that worked, but before he could begin studying the white humanoids returned and offered him a small bag, "What is this?" he asked as he crouched down to inspect the bag.
"A bag of quicksilver ammunition, treated in blood so as to be used with firearms like the one you found." The doll explained, Naruto was too jaded to be surprised or suspicious of the strange inhabitants of the dream by this point so he just accepted the bag and put them in his tool pouch, along with his new pistol.
With those put away the blonde went up to the shack and began studying, looking for references on the firearms or quicksilver. He double checked the metallurgy book and found something, but it bothered him.
Quicksilver, or mercury, was toxic to most living creatures. Those administered by the old blood had natural defenses against such toxin, but their blood crystallized around the liquid metal so it could be used as bullets in specially made firearms.
Well that was absolutely horrifying, Naruto pulled out the bag and checked the bullets. They were an almost silver color with a red sheen to them, they seemed more like jewels than bullets. He decided to put them away and decide what to do with them later, there were only seven of them.
A week after graduating Naruto was getting sick of D rank missions, he'd gotten a lot stronger, literally too as one of those nights he'd dedicated the blood he'd collected to strength. The doll explained bloodtinge would make his use of firearms and other weapons that used blood more effective, but the idea made him uncomfortable.
"I want a real mission." Naruto demanded of the Hokage, he was stronger and more skilled than when he'd graduated a week ago and he wanted to prove it.
"Naruto-kun!" Iruka snapped, "D rank missions are real missions, they're to give genin like you time to build up your skills." he scolded.
Naruto could appreciate that to a degree, his time in the ruins had indeed built up a lot of strength and skill, it even made him smarter, "I don't need more time, I'm sick of chores!" he snapped despite understanding the logic.
Sasuke silently agreed but didn't show it, and Sakura just sighed at her teammates antics. The Hokage looked at Kakashi who shrugged ambivalently.
"Very well then," Hiruzen decided, "Iruka-san, fetch the client for this mission. That should work nicely." he agreed, much to cell seven's surprise.
Iruka was surprised too, but he didn't argue with the leader of the village and left to get the man for the mission the Hokage had lifted up to him.
The chunin returned with an old, overweight, drunk man dressed in laborer's clothes complete with a cone strawhat, "What's this? I hired ninja right? I got a couple of brats and some wood cutter?" he asked.
Kakashi sighed, "My genin may be inexperienced, but I'm on the mission too." the jonin assured.
The client eyed the four ninja, "Hmph, I am the super bridge builder Tazuna, your mission is to protect me until I get home and finish my next super bridge." he introduced and explained, "Even if it costs your lives." he added darkly.
Naruto couldn't resist a scoff, the others looked at him, "We can handle some bandits or money lenders." he excused his humor with sarcasm.
Naruto made the swift and easy decision that he liked the outside of Konoha more than the underside, clear blue skies and trees were far more scenic than stone ceilings and death traps. The blonde didn't even notice he was being uncharacteristically quiet as they walked.
Kakashi noticed his blonde genin occasionally tracking small animals hidden in the brush with his head, it was impressive but it was also strange. In a trained shinobi it would indicate a practiced ear, in someone as inexperienced as his student it indicated heightened senses on par with an Inuzuka using their clan hijutsu to mimic canine senses.
Hatake had an affinity for canines themselves, and Kakashi did have a good sense of smell by default but he could see that Naruto was noticing things before he did, "What's got you so excited and jumpy?" Tazuna asked the boy before taking a swig of his bottle, the label hidden by a brown bag.
Naruto stiffened at the question as if accused of something, "Just my first time outside the walls." he excused, he was relatively sure that wasn't even technically a lie.
Sakura turned to Tazuna, "We're taking you to Nami no Kuni, right, Tazuna-san?" she asked, her tone as curious as she was polite.
The old man eyed her suspiciously, "Yeah, why?" he asked as he was in the process of taking another swig.
The kunoichi immediately turned to her sensei, "Do they have shinobi in Nami no Kuni?" she asked.
Kakashi smiled at the inquisitive green eyed girl under his face mask, "No, no shinobi of their own. You have nothing to worry about, C ranks are not expected to encounter any enemy shinobi, not even genin or C rank nukenin unless something goes wrong." he assured before ruffling the girl's pink hair, Tazuna looked oddly nervous and Kakashi noticed a puddle up ahead.
Naruto noticed it too, but the blonde was wired to the depths and his first response to a possible trap was kage bunshin. It hadn't rained to Naruto's knowledge and the sky was clear, he didn't know what the puddle was but his bunshin would find out.
Kakashi was alarmed by the sudden and calculated use of kage bunshin, "Wait!" he tried to warn but a pair of dark haired shinobi with matching rebreathers and clawed gauntlets on opposite hands emerged from the puddle. A chain of shuriken connected the gauntlets of the two shinobi and tore through Naruto's bunshin, one had a single horned hitai-ate while the other had two horns on his but both had the symbol for Kirigakure shinobi.
Kakashi even recognized them, a pair of chunin from Chigiri, "Oni Kyodai." he named as his blonde student gripped Nokogiribocho in his right hand to lift it from its holster.
"We hoped to take you out first," The single horned one intoned and the jonin struggled to remember their names, "taking you in a straight fight doesn't seem like a good idea, Kakashi Hatake." the man confessed.
"Being noticed by that blonde brat with the weird weapon was an insulting wake up call though." The two horned brother added with a grumble, Kakashi still couldn't remember their individual names.
Naruto guessed the shinobi with the single horned hitai-ate was the more rational one and addressed the other enemy, "Oni? I thought those were bunny ears." he said sardonically.
The two horned brother disconnected his gauntlet from the chain of shuriken as he rushed the blonde, he lunged with his clawed gauntlet. Naruto stepped back as he unfolded his weapon with a flick, the blade snapping into place knocked the older shinobi's attack aside.
Naruto lowered his stance and swung, his blade carved through the right shoulder and chest of the enemy ninja. The wounded man stumbled back after a spray of blood exited his sucking chest wound, his brother caught him and the now blood covered Naruto pounced.
Nokogiribocho snapped shut as Naruto swung and the toothed edge of his blade clashed against the gauntlet of the man he'd wounded, the blonde hopped back as the uninjured brother angrily swiped at him before the young genin palmed a kunai.
Kakashi put a hand on the blonde boy's shoulder, "I think you've humiliated them enough." he said to halt the fight, "You need medical attention." he pointed out, "Tell us why you attacked and maybe the injured one of you gets to live." he bargained.
"Run for it, Gozu." The wounded chunin demanded then he lunged at Kakashi, the jonin clothes lined him easily enough with his right forearm before his student could kill the man, but the now named uninjured brother had followed the wishes of his dying brother.
The jonin commander of Konoha's cell seven sighed, "Alright, I'm just going to lay the accusation out, why were they after us, Tazuna-san?" he asked bluntly, "I hoped to lure them into revealing who they were going for, but to my surprise Naruto-kun displayed amazing observation abilities, surpassing even Sakura-chan." he praised.
Naruto flushed, "Well, it hasn't rained y'know." he pointed out.
Sakura felt embarrassed she hadn't even realized it, the dead last had noticed a detail she had completely overlooked and acted on a deduction formed on that observation before any of them could react. The kunoichi wondered what exactly had happened to Naruto.
Sasuke was more focused on Tazuna, noticing how nervous the client was practically confirmed Kakashi's accusation but that wouldn't fly in any court, they needed a verbal confession, "Alright I admit it," well that was easy, "but you have to understand, my country is poor because of this awful man and he's almost definitely the one who sent those shinobi after me." the bridge builder confessed, "Gato."
Kakashi's eyes widened in alarm, "Please don't tell me you mean Gato the shipping magnate, richest man in the world?" he requested.
"Okay I won't." Tazuna said, then he remained silent.
"Shit." Kakashi grumbled under his breath before he started performing emergency first aid on the dying chunin, "Alright, this is now officially above my teams pay grade. You got lucky this time but imagine if Naruto had frozen up, these guys use poison." he pointed out.
"I'm fine." Naruto said, the boy was pretty sure he probably would be fine even if he did get poisoned. What was it going to do, kill him?
"You did well Naruto-kun." Kakashi assured, misunderstanding the blonde's irritation. The jonin soon had the man stable, "Alright, he lost a lot of blood but he should live." the jonin said once he was done, although he wasn't entirely certain about that, "Sakura-chan, Sasuke-kun, you two carry him." he ordered as he pulled out a fold out stretcher.
"Why not Naruto?" Sakura asked, crossing her arms.
"I do not want the captive to go into shock and die when the first thing he sees is the still bloody genin that nearly killed him." Kakashi retorted dryly and the lips of the kunoichi pressed thin as she averted her gaze from the jonin and the injured chunin.
Naruto was frowning, he wasn't sure if he should be but he hoped no one guessed the reason, he avoided looking at the Kirinin he'd nearly killed. The man he secretly felt the urge to finish off.
Tazuna was frowning for a different reason, "You guys aren't just going to leave me here are you?" he asked, a worried tone to his voice.
"I have half a mind to." Kakashi muttered.
"Wait," Tazuna stammered, "this Gato guy, he's ruined my home. No one can make any money and he bribes the Daimyo, he has the entire nation under his thumb. I need to finish this bridge so we have some way to trade without using his shipping." he explained.
"What's stopping him from setting up a toll?" Naruto asked curiously.
"It's illegal for him to set up a toll between nations, it would drain his wallet too much to bribe two Daimyo and it's not worth the risk of other Daimyo noticing and cutting ties with him." Tazuna explained logically.
"This is still-" Kakashi began to protest.
"I want to help." Naruto insisted, he wanted some act of generosity and kindness, some kind of heroism to prove he wasn't a monster. He realized that he actually needed it.
Kakashi wasn't sure why the blonde was so eager but he looked to his other genin and saw the Uchiha nod and the pink haired girl look to his response before she copied it, "Alright, I guess I'm outnumbered here." he agreed.
Tazuna smiled, "Well a super thanks to you all then!" he said happily, he hadn't even needed to guilt trip the ninja, imagine that.
Kakashi sat the drugged Meizu up against the wall of the fisherman's shack, "Alright, who else is working with Gato." he demanded to know.
The drugged chunin mumbled something unintelligible before he glared at Kakashi, "Zabuza-san," he began with a slur, "gon' kill you." he finished before his head lolled to the side and he passed out.
"Your weapon causes horrifying sucking chest wounds." Kakashi said blandly as he processed the name he just heard.
"Thank you?"
Kakashi had not meant it as a compliment but he decided to neither correct nor confirm it, "Zabuza Momochi, this mission just jumped in rank again." he said instead.
"How bad?" Sakura asked nervously.
"Those two chunin and Gato's involvement made it B rank minimum, this is now A rank." Kakashi answered, he noticed his genin shiver but Naruto's reaction seemed oddly forced. The blonde reacted a second too late, after seeing his teammates doing it.
"You," Tazuna began hesitantly, "you'll still help right?" he asked.
"This is way above what my students can handle." Kakashi denied bluntly, the two boys looked offended and the girl looked downtrodden, "This isn't some chunin my students can handle because they have a lot of talent for their age," he continued, his words pacifying the genin, "this is Zabuza Momochi. He could assassinate them or you while distracting me with a bunshin if I'm not careful, he's enough of a threat that the best way my genin can help is by staying out of the way." he explained.
Naruto took offense to all of that, "I'll do it myself if you try to quit." he threatened.
Kakashi stared incredulously at Naruto, wondering why the blonde was so determined to finish the mission. Sasuke looked emboldened by the declaration and the jonin knew the kunoichi of the cell would go with whatever the Uchiha wanted to do, "Why?" he asked.
Naruto frowned, "It's the right thing to do." he said simply with a shrug.
Kakashi shook his head with a sigh, "Alright, we've come this far, we might as well get you home." he agreed, he could not risk the surprisingly stealthy blonde disappearing to fight an A rank opponent alone.
Tazuna wasn't sure why Naruto had so much influence, but he was grateful the boy had a good moral compass.
The fisherman took the group in his boat, clearly worried about leaving a drugged and wounded shinobi in his shack but Kakashi had explained that it was more dangerous to bring the man with them. The jonin seemed sure the Kirinin would wake up and be grateful enough about being untied to leave civilians alone, as long as he wasn't a bloodthirsty monster.
The last part had been said in a joking tone but the words really brought down the mood, Kakashi pretended not to notice as Naruto tried not to think of the damage he could do if he snapped. They traveled silently after that, through some mangroves.
Tazuna thanked the fisherman and the group of four shinobi and client continued, all the shinobi on high alert. Kakashi was glad he at least knew who was coming after them, but that person being Zabuza Momochi was hardly comforting.
Naruto's eyes darted around as they walked until his left hand suddenly palmed a shuriken and tossed it so fast the jonin almost missed that it was more like a small kunai without the ring to counterbalance, for a moment nothing happened.
Sakura approached the bushes the blade had been thrown in, "You scared the bunny." she scolded with a glare at the blonde, then she frowned as she turned back to the white rabbit and the knife, "Is that serrated?" she asked.
Kakashi raised an eyebrow, saw toothed weapons and now serrated shuriken, Naruto certainly had a cruel taste in weaponry. He made a note to keep an eye on the boy, but for now he focused on the more dangerous detail. The weather was not cold enough for a rabbit to have a white coat unless it was an indoor pet, Naruto had spotted someone who had left the rabbit as a decoy.
The jonin commander tried not to give away that he was looking, he saw Naruto tense up a moment before he heard it, "Get down!" he ordered as soon as he recognized the sound of something large slicing through the air at them.
Sasuke grabbed Tazuna and Sakura to pull the two down as they froze up, Naruto turned to spot the attack and saw the blade in time to dive backwards. The massive sword spun across the clearing before lodging into a tree, Naruto rolled to his feet as it passed over him so close it nearly gave Kakashi a heart attack but so smoothly it caught his entire team off guard.
A tall shirtless man with bandages around his face, slashed Kiri hitai-ate askew sideways, camo arm warmers, pinstripe pants, and a leather harness likely meant for holding the massive sword landed on the weapon lodged in the tree, "Zabuza Momochi." Kakashi greeted.
Zabuza had short dark hair, dark eyes, and small eyebrows, "Sharingan no Kakashi, I presume." the man said and Sasuke tensed, "Could you surrender that old man?" he requested politely.
Naruto raised an eyebrow, "Would you?" he asked sarcastically, taking the older shinobi off guard with his casual attitude.
Kakashi didn't give anything away, "Naruto-kun, this guy is serious, assume a Manji formation around the client now." he ordered sternly as he reached for his hitai-ate.
Zabuza turned to face them properly, "Ah, to face the legendary Sharingan so soon in our encounter. Now this is an honor." he mused idly.
Naruto's retort died in his throat as he felt the oppressive malevolent intent of Zabuza descend on him, he tensed his jaw and muscles as his eyes focused on the shirtless swordsman. The nukenin was surprised the blonde brat could still glare at him from under his killing intent, not as much that the three genin managed to get into formation despite it as he didn't think his would be paralyzing except to a civilian perhaps.
Zabuza leaped towards the water, pulling his sword free and holstering it before he landed on the surface, "Is he walking on water?" Sakura asked, stunned by that more than the speed. Kakashi took a defensive stance, recognizing the build up of chakra as Zabuza used Kirigakure no Jutsu to spread a thick mist across the battlefield, "He's gone!" the pink haired kunoichi exclaimed in shock.
"Zabuza Momochi is a master of silently killing his opponents." Kakashi explained, "Letting your guard down around him is a quick way to die. I haven't necessarily mastered all the abilities of the Sharingan, so all of you stay on your toes." he warned.
Sakura and Sasuke felt their hearts beating fast, but Naruto was panicking mostly because if he died and woke up in Konoha he would have no way to explain it. The idea that he'd have to hide away in the ruined depths sent chills down his spine, "There are eight targets," Zabuza's voice seemed to come from all around them, "Throat, spine, lungs, liver, jugular vein, subclavian artery, kidneys, heart. So many choices, which vulnerable target should I choose?" he questioned, his voice thrown into the chakra thickened mist obscuring his position.
Naruto willed himself to speak up, "You can hit both kidneys at the same time with that thing?" he asked dryly.
"I can bisect you with it."
Naruto supposed that would technically hit both kidneys if the angle of the cut was right, he was vaguely aware of his team staring in horror, "I have to be honest I don't know what a subclavian artery is and I'd like to know if you're going to choose that." the blonde spoke quickly and truthfully, he was pretty sure he could lose a lot more blood than a regular person.
"Under the left shoulder."
Naruto's eyes searched for the nukenin, "Huh, if I'd angled my swing differently I would have killed that guy we caught." he mused quietly.
"Hm, poor choice of words." Zabuza mocked and the next thing the genin knew Kakashi was in between them holding back the escaped Oni Kyodai, "Gozu wants revenge for what you did to Meizu, probably should be a little more sensitive." he mocked and then he was there swinging at the client.
The oversized sword cleaved though water then a kunai dug into the nukenin wielding it only for the man and weapon to turn to water as well, "Good distraction, Naruto-kun." Kakashi praised, although internally he was screaming.
The blonde was far too calm about danger, Kakashi knew the boy had an idea of how durable the kitsune made him but he was worried it had given the jinchuriki some kind of complex. Naruto caught sight of the Sharingan, it was bright red and had three tomoe around the pupil, he immediately and instinctively averted his gaze.
"Hiding the client, eh? Smart." Zabuza acknowledged and soon the genin all saw Kakashi leaping to avoid a dragon made of water crashing into his hiding place, Tazuna was in the Konoha jonin's grip, "It won't work though."
Gozu managed to break free of the bunshin grappling with him and tried to back hand Naruto with his clawed gauntlet, the blonde hopped back out of reach but in doing so he broke formation. Sakura jumped back as well but the oversized sword came at her back, Naruto's eyes widened in alarm.
Thankfully Kakashi was there, his back against Sakura's stopped the girl from backing up into her own death, unfortunately he only had kunai for blocking the massive blade so he was unable to fully halt it. Kakashi's upper right arm near the shoulder sprayed blood, Sakura had looked relieved to be saved until that blood hit her.
Sasuke kicked Gozu in the back of the head as Naruto charged Zabuza, the two jonin separated as the chunin dropped from the location of the kick and how much force the Uchiha put behind it. The blonde genin leaped, Kakashi's eyes widened as Zabuza swung to meet the boy in mid air.
To Kakashi and Zabuza's surprise Naruto's blade clashed with the oversized sword and instead of his guard being knocked aside the entire blonde was sent flying by the momentum, his back hit the ground as he tucked his chin and the blonde genin rolled to his feet with a kunai palmed as if he'd practiced being tossed outside of his control.
Kakashi was pretty sure there was no way for Naruto to train that in Konoha but now Zabuza was interested, Naruto had not only survived clashing blades with him but he'd kept his guard while doing so and recovered from being sent sprawling like a seasoned veteran.
"Well now, what do we have here?" Zabuza asked, "Even that kid with the Uchiwa fan on his back was shaking in his sandals at my presence, but you're holding your own at least as much as a chunin." he mused, "I have to wonder what war a brat like you learned to hold your own like that and gained such a lust for blood."
Naruto flinched, he needed a lie, a lie that was close to the truth because he hadn't gone to war, unless a war on the beasts counted, "I go hunting." he answered blandly, it sounded like a lame excuse even to him.
Zabuza laughed as he disappeared back into the thickening mist and Kakashi tensed up, "Cute excuse, but you don't seem like you were viewing me as a deer and fighting boar isn't enough to develop that kind of ability." he pointed out.
Naruto frowned at being called out, "Well you tried to attack Sakura-chan from behind so I do kind of view you as a beast." he grumbled, another bluff as the real reason was that the sight and smell of blood had spurred him to move, to fight, to hunt, "I'm hunting you." he decided firmly, that one didn't even feel like a lie despite the situation.
Zabuza laughed again, "You're a real comedian aren't you? Who do you think is being hunted in this situation?" he asked, Kakashi mentally cursed as he knew he would spread his chakra far too thin trying to make sure both the client and Naruto survived.
Naruto turned his head a few times, his eyes tracked something. He could smell the blood, he needed to focus on the mobile scent of iron if he didn't want to give away his immortality.
Unfortunately the blonde was so focused on keeping track of Zabuza, of not dying, that he didn't think to hide he was doing so. The blonde was too used to hunting beasts with baser cunning, "You can actually track me." the Kiri shinobi realized, "Even your sensei's Sharingan can't track me until I visually reveal myself, so I'm guessing you must have some ability as a sensor too." the voice of the man echoed around them.
Naruto had been about to panic about revealing something inhuman about himself when he was offered an out, but he had no idea what a sensor was so he blurted out, "What's a sensor?"
"He's saying you're tracking him by sensing his chakra, are you?" Sakura asked curiously, still shell shocked but able to talk.
"Yeah sure." Naruto answered, trying not to shrug as he remained focused on Zabuza's shifting location, "Hey, uh, this might sound weird, but Kakashi-sensei could you get the client out of here while I hold the enemy off?" he asked, having already revealed a bit more than he intended.
Kakashi frowned under his mask, his Sharingan tracked where Naruto's eyes went, "Leave you alone to fight an A rank nukenin who attempted to assassinate his Mizukage-dono? Absolutely not." he refused.
"I'll live." Naruto said dryly, his sensei was surprised by the confidence. The jonin looked at his student again, the blonde genin wasn't shaken by being tossed around, exposed to high level killing intent, or nearly dying. His breathing was even, measured, his stance relaxed, his grip on the handle of his weapon firm but not tight.
Kakashi checked Naruto's eyes and was relieved they were still blue at least but he was worried about the genin seeming to be so okay with the situation, the boy was too confident. Zabuza landed on the nearby lake, "Will you now?" he challenged as he weaved hand signs, openly this time.
Kakashi rushed to intercept, "Okay I can't fight you on the water surface, dick!" Naruto snapped at the nukenin, his ability to be a snarky brat under high pressure was astounding. The jonin also took note that the boy took surprises in stride, as if he was already jaded.
The silver haired man wondered if his student had been so shaken by the revelation of the kitsune that he was distracted and almost missed when Zabuza's hands shifted to tiger and the flow of his chakra, visible to the Sharingan, shifted to indicate an abandoned ninjutsu cancelled into an easier and quicker one.
Mizu Bunshin surrounded Kakashi, he'd rushed into the element of his enemy while weaving copied hand signs. He knew the jutsu Zabuza had been about to use though and finished them anyway, "Suiryudan no Jutsu!" he announced and the water beneath him roiled into a dragon that tore through a pair of bunshin as it rushed Zabuza while the copy ninja leaped back.
"Suiro no Jutsu." Zabuza's bunshin intoned as the real one evaded the Suiryudan, two more of the mizu bunshin approached the shore line, where the genin were and where the client was hidden.
"Take the client and get out of here!" Kakashi shouted in alarm as he was trapped in an orb of water, hoping Naruto would finally realize how outmatched he was.
Naruto took in the situation, his sensei was trapped and at the mercy of an enemy assassin, his teammates probably wouldn't listen to him if he didn't listen to his sensei's command, and the enemy could make solid bunshin out of water. One bunshin held Kakashi trapped, two more approached the shoreline, and the real one, Naruto could smell the blood on the end of his blade was no trick of chakra, the real one stood between the trapped jonin and his advancing bunshin on the surface of the water.