Chapter 3: Into Wave and Danger.
Another Chapter I had stored on my PC. Again, thank you for reviewing those who have and those who will do in the future! I hop i will be able to keep you entertained!
It was the day of their first C-rank. This showed excitement in the genin although a few tried to cover it up (namely Naruto and Shino) and trepidation from the others (Hinata and Sakura). Once the sensei's and the bridge builder, Tazuna, arrived they set off for the first time out of Fire Country.
The group plus Tazuna the bridge builder walked through the outer forests of Konoha. The group was interested in what Tazuna had to say about his country of Wave.
"Ne, Kakashi-Sensei. Doesn't Wave have it's own shinobi force?" Sakura asked in curiosity. Kakashi inwardly sighed at the girl who was supposed to be the smartest kunoichi of her generation.
"Wave has no Shinobi forces that I know of due to its poor economic state, thus they can't afford to hire any." He paused and looked at Tazuna, who shifted under his gaze. "Although I am curious as to how a simple bridge builder can afford for two genin teams…must be important, ne?"
Tazuna didn't answer and swigged more of his booze, which resulted in Kiba calling him a booze hound, before he went to bug Sasuke.
Walking into a small clearing, Naruto took notice of a rather large puddle under a tree.
"How odd…" He commented, while Mia meowed. "There does not appear to have been any rain recently…"
His comment made the two jounin and Sasuke tense up and look at the puddle. It came as quite a shock when two black-clad shinobi leapt from the puddle and wrapped Kakashi up in the chains attached to their gauntlets.
"ONE!" "DOWN!" They cried in unison and the chains shredded Kakashi to pieces. Sakura and Hinata screamed and moved to protect the client, along with Kurenai (who didn't scream). Sasuke and Kiba moved to attack in close range while Naruto and Shino stood back as mid-long range support. Sasuke engaged one of them in Taijutsu while Kiba engaged the other.
Sometime during the fight, Kiba got knocked down and the shinobi he was fighting glared at him. Just as Kiba closed his eyes preparing for the worst, and the shinobi raising his arm to kill the boy, a sound of metal piercing flesh tore threw the area.
Naruto stood in front of Kiba with his rapier driven through the shinobi's heart. The shinobi's eyes widened in surprise before he collapsed in a bloody heap on the ground with a gurgled scream. The other shinobi looked from his fight at what had happened and went into a fit of rage.
"Meizu! You little bastard! You killed my little brother! I'll fuckin' tear you limb from fuckin' limb!" the shinobi screamed at Naruto and charged recklessly towards him. In the midst of this, Kiba got up and tackled the unsuspecting shinobi, causing him to fall to the dirt. This resulted in Sasuke sending out a Grand Fireball at the shinobi, causing him to flail slightly before falling unconscious from his injuries.
Soon after Kakashi reappeared in a swirl of leaves, causing Sakura and Kiba to yell at him. After calming them down and explaining that it was a test to see how they could handle the situation, he turned to Tazuna.
"You have some explaining to do. Why do you have missing-nin after you? They couldn't just be here to enjoy the sights so out with it!" Kakashi said to the slightly shaking bridge builder. Tazuna sighed shakily but complied.
"Alright I admit it, I deceived you. But please try to understand, we cant fight Gato, he has too much of a foothold in Wave so we had to hire you without him noticing…of course, this means that I'll have to pay more right?" He finished in a sad tone.
"Gato? You mean that rich business tycoon?" Kurenai asked.
"Gato is nothing more than a fat little toad who is stealing the life from our people." He said with such venom that it slightly shocked the team. "Which is why I'm asking, please help us…" He finished by getting on his hands and knees.
Sighing, Kakashi turned to the genin and addressed them.
"It's your call guys, what's it gonna be?" He asked tiredly. The genin looked a bit stunned before most nodded in assent.
"Looks like it's your lucky day, pal." Kakashi said to the relieved old man.
As the group continued on towards Tazuna's house in Wave, a mist had slowly built its way through the area. Naruto took notice of this and frowned.
"This mist…is very repulsive…" He stated, causing the group to look at him in confusion, causing him to sigh before saying "It is unnatural and feels…disgusting."
Kakashi had thought about what his student said. Unlike most people who knew Naruto, Kakashi could interpret the boy's messages despite his dreamy dazed outlook and wording. So when he felt something off, it usually ended up being bad news. This sadly came true as a whipping wind sound was heard. Narrowing his one eye, which soon widened, he turned back to the team.
"EVERYBODY DUCK!"
With that scream, followed by the immediate action, a huge sword careened through the air and crashed into a tree, just missing the team. A figure soon landed on top of the embedded sword. His lower face was covered in bandages and he had his Kiri Hitai-ate slanted at an angle over his messy black hair. His clothing consisted of a bare torso, light striped pants and cow-coloured wristbands and legwarmers. His sharp black eyes bore into the team as he let out a large amount of killing intent.
"Well well well! So it seems that you were the troublemakers that dealt with the Demon Brothers…Heh, at least they went out with dignity." The man then laughed a cackling laugh. "But I see that you are Sharingan no Kakashi, and you are Konoha's Genjutsu Mistress, Yuuhi Kurenai…"
The two mentioned jounins tensed up, looking at the man with narrowed eyes. Sasuke looked at Kakashi in shock.
"Hey! What does he mean by the Sha-" but before he could finish, Kakashi yelled "Not now, Sasuke!"
Sasuke scowled and focused his attention on the strong looking man before them. Yes, he would be a brilliant test of his skills. Once he defeated this man, then he would be one step closer to killing him.
No sooner did he think those words that the man reappeared in front of him and delivered a kick to his face, sending him careening into a tree.
"Sasuke-kun!" His pink haired team-mate yelled.
"Stupid brats, don't take your eyes off the enemy or…" He said and rushed at Tazuna. "You'll fuckin' die!" He yelled and prepared to execute the bridge builder with his cleaver sword. The rapier of Naruto, who stood in front of Tazuna, however, intercepted his strike before it could reach its target. The man looked at him in confusion.
"Hmm? A rapier? Don't see too many shinobi using those…this ought to be interesting!" He yelled in excitement as he and Naruto commenced a sword battle.
Kiba had found Sasuke imbedded in a tree with a trickle of blood escaping the corner of his mouth. Grabbing the injured Uchiha, he made his way towards the rest of his team.
Hinata was terrified. This huge man had come out of nowhere and attacked them! Then he proceeded to one-hit Sasuke and now was engaging in a battle of blades with Naruto-kun! Thinking quickly, she and Sakura held protective stances around the client.
Shino watched impassively as he knew this would happen. His insects had alerted him to the presence of enemy-nin but he wanted to use the experience to gain an insight into the battle strategies of enemy nations and how the other team co-operated. Another thing he noticed was that his insects seemed to be strangely intrigued with Naruto's chakra. Before, they acted wary but soon they started to fly near the boy, although he never noticed. He resolved to keep an eye on Uzumaki, but now he had a battle to fight and he wasn't going to be left out. Thinking, he sent off an infantry swarm of insects to surround the bandaged swordsman from a distance and slowly leech his chakra. This would be all he could offer as a basic support. He watched as Kakashi-sensei joined in the battle and Kurenai-sensei head back to the client and provide assistance to the shaken girls.
Zabuza was enjoying himself. This little genin not only knew how to wield that rapier of his, but he also managed to score a few quick stabs to his arms. What's more, the little brat was too fast that he couldn't even score a hit! This was so much fun! Deciding to see what else the kid could do, he moved a fair distance away, idly noting that Kakashi was approaching. Thinking, he attacked Kakashi first, wanting to have more fun with the genin later. Going through hand seals, he shouted out a jutsu.
"Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu!" (Water release: Water Dragon Bullet). Both Kakashi and Zabuza called out in unison.
Shocked, Zabuza watched as his water dragon collided with Kakashi's, causing a small tidal wave. Glaring at the copy-nin, he saw the famed Sharingan eye sitting in Kakashi's left eye socket, with a scar going down the middle.
"So this is the famous Sharingan…Sorry kid! I'll have to cut our little battle short, this ones been in my little book for a while now…" He gestured to the little black book he had in his pouch.
Of course, he made a fatal mistake and that was taking his eyes off of Naruto. He smiled a little and went through hand seals before whispering:
"Amatsu Kusabana Maisou: Ichiban Dankai…"(See chapter one, Endo's jutsu corner at the bottom for translation).
Zabuza felt pain in his left leg. Looking down he saw it completely covered from view with flower petals of all things, and searing pain racketing through his body. Kakashi, seeing the opening his student created, prepared to deal a fatal blow with a kunai.
*Swish!*
All movement stopped as a swishing noise echoed the area and Zabuza stared wide-eyed. Naruto released his technique and observed the damage. The man's leg was cut in various places and looked like it was barely able to support itself. The real injury that had everyone else staring was the needle buried in Zabuza's neck. As the man fell forward, a youthful boy wearing a Kiri Hunter-nin mask appeared to catch him.
"I thank you, shinobi of Konoha. You have proved most reliable in aiding the capture of missing-nin Momochi Zabuza" At this, the group was startled. The boy continued. "I will now take this body off of your hands, thank you for your co-operation."
"No problem, good luck!" Kakashi said in a happy voice with an eyesmile. The boy nodded before leaving with the unconscious Zabuza. Once he was gone, Kakashi turned to Kurenai and whispered.
"Things are getting too serious with someone like Momochi Zabuza here, I'm gonna send word for back-up." He said seriously to Kurenai, who nodded. He then cut his finger and said:
"Kuchiyose no jutsu!" (Summoning Technique)
From the pile of smoke, a small brown pug with a Konoha bandanna appeared before Kakashi, looking bored.
"Yo Kakashi…What do you want?" The dog drawled. Kakashi handed him a written envelope.
"Pakkun, please take this back-up request to the Hokage and inform him that a troublesome situation had occurred." He said seriously to the now named Pakkun, who stiffened and nodded before running in the direction of Konoha. Kakashi sighed and turned to his fellow jounin.
"If we are to have any hope of surviving against someone of Zabuza's level, well have to take the genins training much more seriously." He said and got a nod in return. The group then continued their journey into the Wave.
Meanwhile in Konoha…
The Sandaime was giggling pervertedly while reading a small orange book. He was interrupted in his giggling by a knock on the door, so he jumped up and literally ran to a bookcase on the other side of the room and slammed the book behind some others.
Opening the door revealed his son Asuma and his team, Team 10. Looking at him lazily, the cigarette smoker gestured his team to the Hokage's desk.
"Tch…So troublesome…Hokage-sama, We of Team 10 feel that we are ready for a C-rank mission." The lazy Nara Shikamaru drawled in a bored voice, which caused Ino to whack him over the head and chiding him about respect. The old man merely chuckled before addressing them in his business tone.
"It would seem that we have need of a back-up to Teams 7 & 8 who were ambushed by a Momochi Zabuza, missing-nin from Kirigakure. This will require you all to pack and leave immediately. Do you accept? He asked.
Ino looked worried that the other teams were in danger and thus felt that she should help out by accepting. Shikamaru shrugged, but you could tell he was worried, and Chouji was surprised.
"We, Team 10, accept this mission, Hokage-sama." Replied Shikamaru in a business tone. The Hokage nodded at him and dismissed them.
After they left, he grinned pervertedly and went over to his bookcase, grabbing his copy of Icha Icha Paradise volume 3. He was just about to sit down on his Hokage chair when a loud boom interrupted him and a familiar bowl cut jounin kicked his door in.
"HOKAGE-SAMA! I, MAITO GAI, AND MY YOUTFUL TEAM 9 ARE HERE TO REQUEST A YOUTHFUL MISSION! YOSH!" Gai yelled. He was promptly followed inside by his team consisting of a feminine brown haired Hyuuga boy, a girl with twin buns, and a Gai mini-clone. The mini-clone looked admirably at Gai.
"YOSH! GAI-SENSEI, WHAT YOUTHFUL GOAL ARE WE TO ACCOMPLISH TODAY!" Gai's mini-clone yelled out.
Sarutobi suddenly got a truly evil idea in his head and grinned as he picked up a scroll that reeked of evil red energy. Yes, this would teach them not to interrupt his Icha Icha time!
"Very well, Team 9 your mission today is to capture Tora the cat." He said with a concealed evil grin and handed over the scroll to Gai.
"YOSH! LET US GO MY YOUTHFUL TEAM, FOR WE SHALL FINISH THIS MISSION IN RECORD TIME! AND IF WE CANNOT DO THAT, I WILL PERFORM BENCH PRESSES WITH 100 PREGNANT WOMEN ON MY BACK! AND IF I CANNOT DO THAT I WILL-"
"ENOUGH!" roared the Hokage. He really should get security cameras. That way he could hide under his desk and avoid the screaming jounin. His growing migraine would, sadly, increase as the next outburst came from Gai junior.
"YOSH! GAI-SENSEI! YOUR FIRES OF YOUTH BURN BRIGHTER THAN ANY STAR KNOWN TO MAN! I WILL START TRYING TO INCREASE MY FLAMES OF YOUTH!" Gai started crying while the other two genin twitched in the background.
"LEE!" "GAI-SENSEI!" "LEE!" "GAI-SENS-"
"SILENCE! LEAVE NOW!" Sarutobi yelled as his migraine was reaching such high levels (no, not over 9000!) that he had to take 5 pills from a container on his desk and pop them in his mouth. Sighing in content after the team left, he picked up his book and began to giggle again.
Five minutes passed and Sarutobi looked up from his book sweating and pale faced. Snapping his neck towards his desk, he looked at the pill container he just used.
'Prescribed Laxatives from Konoha Medical Hospital. Take only one a day when having "those" problems, Hokage-sama!" the label read
Sarutobi's eyes widened. The restroom was right down the end of the hallway! And he couldn't move lest an 'accident' occurred. Sighing shakily, he got up slowly and…
"AAAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!" The cry echoed throughout the Elemental Nations.
"What was that?" asked Hoshigaki Kisame, member of Akatsuki, to his partner. That yell from a man could hold no good news for the recipient.
His partner, Uchiha Itachi, looked back at him with a blank face. Kisame, knowing he wouldn't get an answer from his partner, continued to follow him to who knows where…
With Team 7 & Team 8…
The teams had at long last reached Wave Country and Tazuna's hometown. The place looked like a dump. There were poor people everywhere and children scavenging the wreckage's of old buildings.
"This is horrible!" Sakura said. The others couldn't help but agree with her for the place indeed did look like a slum. Tazuna walked in front of the group.
"Well, here we are! Welcome to Wave everybody! Let's go and find my wonderful family!" He said happily and a few genin couldn't help but admire his happiness in such a situation. Walking through the slum village, the group couldn't believe how one mans actions could reduce a once prominent trading country to…this. It was sickening.
Walking slightly outside the village, the group stopped at a slightly better looking house. Tazuna grinned and walked ahead.
"Tsunami! Inari! I'm home!" He called. Out of the house came an attractive black haired woman and a small child. The family seemed to embrace slightly before the child, Inari, glared at the group of shinobi ran back inside. Seeing the looks of confusion, Tazuna elaborated.
"Little Inari's just a bit moody, don't mind him. For now, lets head inside and have some good dinner!" He said and the group followed him in except for Naruto. Kakashi looked at him in confusion.
"Aren't you coming inside Naruto?" He questioned the genin. Naruto shook his head slightly.
"I'm afraid that I am not quite hungry…I will gather information in the town and report back afterwards, Kakashi-sensei…" Naruto informed him.
"Alright, but be back before midnight, m'kay? We'll be discussing the situation after the family is asleep." Kakashi responded. Nodding slowly, Naruto backtracked to the village, Mia humming on his shoulder.
The group had eaten in Tazuna's house, and was wondering where Naruto was. Kiba almost came to blows with the kid, Inari, who said that they would all die and should just go away. Naturally, Kiba didn't like that and when he made a move to reply, Sasuke surprisingly stepped in.
"What would a child know about the world in which adults live in? Right now you're nothing more than a whiny brat who's too scared to lift a finger against a tyrant." He inputted. This caused the boy to go off on one again, before running outside. Soon after, the boy was comforted by Kakashi who explained the tragedy of Sasuke's life and the reason for his brutal behaviour. Needless to say, the boy felt a little guilty and apologised to the Uchiha, who only nodded.
Looking at the clock, Kakashi slowly counted the hand as it reached midnight. Hearing the door, he opened it to reveal Naruto, who stepped in quietly to avoid waking anyone up. He was questioned by the others on where he was but he mysteriously replied that they would find out soon. Kakashi gathered the group's attention around the dining table.
"Alright, this meeting is going to explain the current situation and how we are going to come up with a solution. First, I want a debriefing, you Kiba, tell us." Kiba looked a bit startled but regained himself before standing from his chair.
"Uh…The first situation was with the fight with those two freaks…then we, um, got attacked by Zabuza, and then he, uh, got caught by that Hunter-nin?" Kiba explained, hoping he gave a good analysis. Kurenai smiled.
"Aside from the 'uh's' and the 'um's', Kiba gave a good overall summary, now what else was there?" Kurenai said before looking over at Naruto, whose attention focused from Mia to Kurenai.
"I met a strange person in the forest…out near the entrance to Wave. He claimed to be gathering herbs for his friend. It seemed suspicious to me so I managed to steal a cloth with his scent attached…I was hoping that Kiba could help identify it for me…" He trailed off looking a Kiba, who looked excited about showing off. Seeing as he came from the Inuzuka clan, his tracking abilities were top notch and his sense of smell was one of the best to come out of the clan in years.
"Okay! Lets do this!" He said excitedly as Naruto handed him the cloth. Sniffing at it slightly, his nose picked out the scent and his eyes widened in realisation.
"It's that Hunter-nin that took Zabuza! His scent, as well as Zabuza's, is all over it!" this caused the group to become silenced and focused on Kakashi. The jounin thought to himself for a while before eyesmiling.
"It's a good thing that I sent for back-up after all!" He said happily. When the others looked at him in confusion, a knock on the door drew everyone's attention, causing them to tense up. Kakashi waved off their concerns and opened the door, which revealed a bored looking Asuma and Shikamaru, a hungry Chouji who looked at the meal that the others were eating, and a smiling Ino. Sakura naturally protested this.
"EEEEEH? Ino-pig? What the hell is someone like you doing here?" Sakura mock asked as Ino stormed over and began to argue with the 'Forehead'. Chouji literally jumped for the food, and began munching happily in the corner while Shikamaru went to stand by Naruto and Shino.
After getting the rowdy genin to calm down, They began to make arrangements for the confrontation with Zabuza and his accomplice, who Naruto revealed his name as Haku. Thus the group and their jounin sensei's prepared a training session.
"Alright kiddies! Today, we are gonna learn how to climb trees!" Kakashi said happily. The genin sweatdropped.
"K-Kakashi-sensei! What does climbing trees have to do with getting stronger?" Sakura questioned in confusion. Kakashi smiled at the genin's naivete.
"Why Saku-chan, don't you have faith in me?" He asked in mock hurt before laughing. "No, you will be climbing trees without your hands." This caused Naruto to perk up.
"It is a chakra control exercise…am I correct in this assumption?" He enquired, receiving a nod in reply.
"Good work Naru-chan!" He fake-gushed, causing Naruto to twitch and Kiba to guffaw loudly.
"Ah Ah Ah! Kiba-chan, you shouldn't laugh at your comrades!" Asuma entered the conversation. Kiba promptly shut up at twitched at the name.
"Come on boys, stop clowning around and get to work" Kurenai ordered and the group did as ordered. Soon, most of the genin were tired out and lying flat on their backs. The only ones who made it to the top of the tree were Naruto, Hinata, and Sakura. Sakura smirked at Ino as she lay panting on the ground. Sasuke looked pissed that he couldn't do such a meaningless task and thus started a contest with Kiba to see who could reach the farthest. This ended when Kakashi called the group in for strategy review.
"Alright, now its time to decide who fights Zabuza and Haku tomorrow and who guards Tazuna's family."
"I'm going to fight." Said Kiba, Sasuke, and surprisingly Sakura, although she might have just chosen to go to get Sasuke to fall for her, causing Ino to tag along as well.
"I shall remain here." Said Naruto and Shino.
"I-Ill stay h-here too" stuttered Hinata.
"Tch…How troublesome…looks like we have to fight too Chouji" Said Shikamaru and Chouji nodded.
"Okay, chibi-genin! Get prepared for tomorrow, because it's all or nothing" Kakashi announced as the group headed for their sleeping quarters.
Meanwhile…
"Tch! Slimy little ratfuck bastard…who does he think he is? Ordering ME around! Ought'a shove Kubikiri Houcho down his throat!" Zabuza said angrily and gestured to his large cleaver sword as Haku looked on in indifference.
"It is good news that we were able to hire backup from Uzu no Kuni, otherwise we might end up being outnumbered when the time for battle comes." Haku remarked and Zabuza stopped moaning to grunt in agreement.
"Yeah but they were goddamn greedy bastards…asking for such a large price…oh well, at least we got a good deal, ain't that right, Keichi?" Zabuza spoke the last part out loud and directed it to the shadows. Out of the darkness, a figure made his way into view. The man was rather tall, slightly shorter than Zabuza. He had his black hair tied up into a ponytail, which extended down to his upper back. His face was thin looking, with twin orbs of green eyes and a hitae-ate with a swirl attached to his forehead. His attire consisted of all black shinobi pants, shoes and shirt covered by a dark blue jounin jacket. He looked at Zabuza.
"I hope that you can keep up your end of the bargain, Momochi Zabuza. We of Uzu don't take kindly to betrayal…" He trailed off and Zabuza nodded stiffly.
"Yeah yeah… you'll get your money in exchange for your services, right? Don't worry about it, when we finish with Gato, our money problems will all be over!" He said in glee with Haku and Keichi nodding in the background.
Back with the Teams…
The sun was rising and the birds were singing…until a stray kunai from an irritable Kiba almost impaled some of them, which shut them up.
"Dammit…too damn early…" He moaned out tiredly with Akamaru barking in agreement. Sasuke turned to sneer at him.
"We are shinobi, dobe. We have to be ready for anything so stop whining" He said, which caused Kiba and Akamaru to growl at him.
"Sasuke-bitch!" He yelled.
"Come on, stop fighting guys…" Kakashi said nonchalantly while reading Icha Icha, causing Kurenai to glare at the book.
With Naruto, Shino, and Hinata…
Naruto was patrolling the east side of Tazuna's home. He enjoyed the nice mornings as Mia was always more playful at the time. Shino was at the west side with Hinata, who came along because she would be too shy around Naruto and cause her to lose concentration. That, and she liked Shino's silent nature as it was similar to Naruto…
"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" A female scream echoed throughout the woods, causing the three to turn and rush towards the house, hoping that they weren't too late…
END OF CHAPTER
What was that scream? Will Naruto make it in time? Will the Hokage ever be able to leave his bathroom? Will Gai look cooler? Will-
Shit…getting off track with this long ass line…
I know. I am an evil person ending it here but I never planned on writing this far in one chapter. The next chapter will be the bridge battle and the journey back to Konoha.
Keep reading and gimme some reviews people! Thanks from Endo.
