Six: S-Rank? WTF?

I was bored.

Bored, bored, bored. Damn, you didn't come much boreder than this. And boreder isn't even a word. But I was so bored I didn't care.

I shouldn't be bored, I realised, I should be terrified out of my wits, anxious, nervy, twitchy, anxious… I already said that one. But I was none of them. I was bored. There was seriously only so long I could keep going, focusing on Sasuke's feet, before my mind started to get sidetracked. And now, I was bored.

Have I mentioned that I was bored?

I could hear water lapping at the edges of rocks like an eager puppy out of the toilet, but it was still faint. We were a good way off yet. I sighed mentally, and tilted my head back, stretching my neck. To an observer I was staring at the sky, and I wondered wistfully what shade of blue the sky was today, what shapes the clouds moved in, how the trees moved in the breeze. All things I'd never appreciated when I could still see, and meant the world to me now that I couldn't.

My chest had started to ache again, and I let my gaze fall back to ground silently. What colour was the grass here? Green, the thick green of Konoha summers, yellow of dry dead things, or a colour I didn't know, hadn't understood when I was too young to understand?

The pressure on my chest was tightening painfully, and I took a harsh breath and forced my thoughts to blank out, refocusing to my ears instead of far-off memories and dusty corners of my imagination. The waves were louder now, rushing across sand and stones and dashing themselves to pieces against the rocks of the shore. I could smell the sharp tang of salt and the duller undertone of leather, muffled by human sweat and general presence. The sound of the ocean was almost deafening, coupled with creaking wood, wind gusting, the coarse squark of a seabird –

I froze.

The waves were rushing violently past my ears, their noise impossibly loud. I couldn't hear anything but the ocean as it thrashed, fighting its own currents and whipped into a frenzy by the rushing winds. Water exploding so close, tearing itself apart, filling my ears with sound and my mouth with salt and drowning my mind –

"Sasuke?" I raised my voice, the sound cracking slightly with anxiety as I realised I could hardly even hear my own voice. "Sasuke!"

A hand brushed my arm, but I didn't jerk with surprise, relaxing at the touch. I recognised Sasuke's skin. I turned my head in his direction and forced my mind to focus on his pattern, remembering his voice, his smell, everything about him that was ingrained into my memory.

"–ruto? Naruto, are you alright?" His voice swam into my consciousness and I relaxed further, relieved. I could hear him again. The sound of the ocean was fading, and the overwhelming salty smell had gone back to being a vague scent and taste at the edge of my mind. "Are you okay? Naruto, what's wrong?"

"Sorry," I managed to say quietly. "The ocean – it's so loud – it overpowered me for a minute. Sasuke, I couldn't hear anything, it was like there was nothing there. I couldn't hear you or any of the others at all!"

"It's okay," he said quietly, calmly, and I relaxed even further, because even if it wasn't, Sasuke would make it alright. "Just stay close to me, and it'll be okay. Sorry; I should have realised how loud it was."

I blinked and shook my head. "No, it was my fault," I muttered. "I… got distracted…"

Sasuke rubbed my arm with his knuckles, then took hold of my wrist, gently tugging me back towards the others – I'd gotten a little turned around in my panic attack. "It's ok," he repeated. "It's ok."

Kakashi was no doubt giving me a funny look as Sasuke led me back to the group, but I didn't care. I was still shaking slightly, the lingering fear of the void tugging at the edges of my mind and threatening to pull me under again, and I flinched as Sasuke made to let go of my arm. He steadied his grip, catching the wince, and rubbed my skin with his thumb. "It's okay," he said again. "I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere."

I nodded unsteadily, trying to keep my breathing even and focusing on Sasuke's own breathing, and the faint pulse I could hear and feel through his hand. Still shivering slightly, I looked down at a path I couldn't see and gritted my teeth, refusing to make a sound and ignoring Sakura's questions.

Kakashi soon decided that I wasn't going to be helpful in answering some of his wtf-questions and simply started us walking again. I trotted tamely on Sasuke's heels, staying close enough that I could feel his body heat even though he hadn't let go of my hand yet, letting the familiarity slowly calm me down.

Then we got to the boat.

"OH HELL NO!"

Well, at least I wasn't bored anymore.

I let one hand trail through the icy cold water of the lake, water slapping against the side of the boat, sounding loud but still muffled by the fog Sasuke said was blurring out the whole area. Cold liquid skimmed my fingers, my other hand clinging nervously to Sasuke's sleeve as the boat slid almost-silently through the water.

I was still shivering slightly, but it was hidden in my outsized clothes, and only Sasuke knew how unnerved I still was. Not needing the visual signals other people did to tell moods or feelings, I tended not to make them unless I actually thought about it; hence, it was often hard for other people to tell what I felt at any particular time. At least, that's what Sasuke said.

There was a sharp intake of breath from my right, and I glanced at Sasuke questioningly, pricking my ears for any danger – but there was nothing but the ripples of the water and the sound of the pole moving the boat. No more breathing sources than there should be. I mentally shrugged and was about to dismiss it altogether when Sakura gasped and hissed, "Wow, it's huge! That is incredible!"

"What is?" I asked blankly, then ducked, letting Sakura's fist swish harmlessly overhead. "I was just asking, sheesh! No need to hit me!"

Sakura sniffed irritably. "The bridge, you idiot!"

"Ohhh, so that's what that thing is." Something up ahead of us had almost entirely blocked off what little airflow there was. I had been wondering what it was. I dodged another blow for my comment, hiding a smile. So predictable. Although it was probably a good thing she was; she put enough power behind her punches for me to not want to get hit.

The air deadened around me and I went still, listening to a sudden slew of echoing water ripples, made nervous by the sudden confusing void. Sasuke breathed into my ear, "We're going through a tunnel – an arch under a bridge or something. No worries."

I let out a breath I hadn't known I was holding as the breeze stirred slightly against my skin again, thirty blank seconds later, and the echoes vanished as the tunnel opened out onto open water. Wood tapped wood as the prow of the boat bumped against a wooden jetty, and I heard our oarsman say quietly, "This is it for me – I'm not risking Gatou's wrath any more than I already have. Good luck, Tazuna."

Sasuke stood up carefully, putting his feet firmly on the jetty and making the wood clatter slightly under his sandals. I followed immediately, not letting go of his sleeve, and was unspeakably relieved to feel wood under my feet and not empty air or freezing water. I felt a little nauseous, to my confusion – had I upset myself enough to make myself ill? Kakashi-sensei and Sakura exited the small craft quickly, and the man helped Tazuna step out as well.

There was a soft splash as the boat pulled away from the shore, and I listened to the sound of the oarsman's fading breathing and heart rate until it disappeared altogether. We were in the Land of Waves, enemy territory. If it hadn't been serious before, this mission was definitely serious by now.

As we walked down the pebbly trail, the small rocks crunching under our sandals, I kept one hand of Sasuke's arm, focusing on blocking out the sound of the ocean but still listening to our surroundings. It was harder than I expected, and it took me several seconds to realise that there was another set of vital signs, human vital signs, nearby, probably hidden from the view of the others. I couldn't sense any chakra, not even the life support of a civilian, which meant he was hiding it. At least from me. Kakashi-sensei could probably sense it where I couldn't – I wasn't that good with this sensing thing yet.

Then his chakra flickered into existence in my mind, just a little, his position shifting with a brush of grass, and I hurled a kunai at him instantly. The chakra flashed – a kawarimi – and I whipped around, a second kunai already headed for his landing position.

A second flash, and I cursed – too slow. He'd substituted again and was out of range now. Then I had to duck and fend off my female teammate, who was less than pleased. "NARUTO! What do you think you're doing? You scared me!"

"What kind of ninja are you that a kunai thrown by a teammate no less can scare you?" I snarled, angrily shoving my weapons back into their pouch.

There was some scratching and rustling from the shrubbery, and I assumed Sakura was going to see what I had been aiming at. "Don't bother, I missed," I told her sharply. "He got away." I was too slow. Damn, kawarimi was annoying. Useful as hell, but annoying when used against you.

"NARUTO!" Sakura shouted, making me sigh. What now? "You nearly hit this poor rabbit!"

I frowned in confusion. No sensible rabbit would be as close to a human as that would have had to be for my kunai to have any chance of hitting it. He must have used it as his substitution, I guessed; less suspicious than a random log, and less chakra flare than a shunshin. Not to mention faster. I noted the skill in a corner of my mind, baring my teeth as Kakashi-sensei lectured me, "Naruto, kunai are sharp. Be careful where you throw them."

"There was someone there!" I hissed to Sasuke, clenching and unclenching my fists. "They were there, they kawarimi-ed out before I could hit them! Don't lecture me on chakra sensing, he was hiding it until he needed to dodge! And don't try to give me crap about the rabbit either, I can tell a human heartbeat from a goddamn rodent's!" I degenerated into mental fuming. I had better ears than anyone here, except maybe Kakashi, and he hadn't even sensed the guy! But no one would care about a mere genin's opinion, let alone the dead last's.

"I believe you," Sasuke said quietly, interrupting my mental ranting. I blinked, then relaxed slightly. It always made me feel better, every time I was reminded that I wasn't actually alone, that there was someone on my side. Every time I was reminded of reality. "Any clues on identity?"

I shook my head slightly, my lips pursing in frustration. "Sorry. The shreds of chakra I got weren't familiar, and not enough for a proper scan. I'm out of my depth."

Then I heard the sound of something huge slicing through the air, the coiling flicker that translated to spinning, a shift in Kakashi-sensei's breathing –

I yelped as Sasuke grabbed me and dragged me down, the sound freezing in my throat as I heard a blade that had to be at least four feet long slash into the tree behind us, carving straight through the bark and jamming deep in the heartwood. I was frozen. If Sasuke hadn't grabbed me… that sword… it went deep, way deep, into wood of all things… it would have gone straight through me…

"Well, well, well," said a cold voice from higher up – tree, suspended, climb, jump – "I guess some of the hype about you is true, Copycat Kakashi."

I shook myself and swallowed, gritting my teeth for the coming fight. The blood was starting to pound in my ears, making it just that little bit harder to hear, and I forced myself to focus.

"Well well well," said Kakashi-sensei lightly. "If it isn't Momochi Zabuza, the kid who ran off and left the Land of Mist!" I filed the name quickly, trying to sense out the still-hidden chakra to get an identity lock on the guy, but he was still shielding it entirely – like a void in my senses, where there should have been energy. "This could be a little rough," Sensei mused under his breath, and I let my eyes flicker over to him for just a second.

Zabuza, the man was called, spoke up again, his voice icy cold, slightly grating, taut with some unidentified emotion. "If it wouldn't be too much trouble, would you surrender the old man?" Fear? Anger? Excitement?

"Is he some kind of an idiot?" I asked blankly under my breath. Sasuke snorted faintly.

Then I flinched as the enemy unshielded his chakra slowly, building up a sense of power that I guessed was supposed to intimidate us. As it built up speed I decided he was doing a very good job of it.

Kakashi-sensei shifted. I can't say how, exactly, but he just… shifted. Something changed, maybe in how he stood, or in his voice, or maybe his chakra, but something was different. "Assume the manji battle formation," he ordered crisply, taking a step forwards. "Stay out of this fight. He's way out of your league."

"Believe me Sensei, I'm working that out on my own," I whispered almost silently.

A low, cool chuckle. "Ahh… to face the legendary Sharingan eye so soon in our acquaintance… this certainly is an honour!"

I bared my teeth silently, making a mental note to ask Sasuke what was happening later on. This wasn't making a whole lot of sense to me, and I really needed a visual. Or at least a description of the situation… ANYTHING would do!

"When I was an assassin for Kirigakure…" our opponent continued to speak, not needing further prompting, "I possessed the usual Bingo Book – a kind of who's who of our enemies. It had a rather extensive write-up of you, including a mention of your impressive record. The man who copied over a thousand jutsu… known as Kakashi, the Copy Ninja."

I blinked twice quickly, anxiously wondering what we were going to do. Sensei said to stay out of the fight…

"Enough," Zabuza announced, drawing my attention back to where his cold, unnervingly amused voice was coming from. "Pleasant as this conversation has been, I'm on a tight schedule to finish off the old man."

All three of us genin sprang into ready positions beside Tazuna, whose heartbeat was just skyrocketed. I didn't blame him, and found myself wishing that I had my damn shock tags working properly. Flash and bang was all very well, but I had a nasty suspicion we'd need a lot more firepower in a fight like this one.

"Kakashi of the Sharingan… the master of a thousand jutsu, the elite of the Konohagakure Village. It looks like I'll have to go through you first."

There was a loud crack and a flare of chakra and I swung my head to the right as the follow-up shunshin flicker appeared, and a split second later my teammates gasped as they followed the same motion.

"Is he – walking on water?" Sakura gasped, and I frowned in confusion. How could that be possible? That chakra buildup – is it concentrated… in his–?

Then there was a flare of unfamiliar feeling chakra – no, felt once before – and the air grew colder – water? –

"The finest of the ninja arts. The Kirigakure no jutsu!"

Hidden in the mist – mist – Kiri – cold – water! I get it now, he's calling up mist! But – what for?

"He's gone!" Sakura shouted.

Aha. That's what.

"He'll come after me first," Kakashi-sensei warned, his voice cool and clipped. "Momochi Zabuza was a member of Kirigakure's assassin corps – a famous master of the art of silent killing. Letting your guard down around him buys you a direct trip to heaven. I haven't necessarily mastered my Sharingan… so all of you stay on your toes!"

I swallowed anxiously. Believe me, sensei, I haven't been off my toes since we left the village.

The mist was brushing distractingly against my skin, wisps of cold air heavy with water sending tingling shocks over my flesh, and the musty scent and taste of fog was damping my senses. The breathing and heartbeats of the others, their life signs, quieted as if they'd moved away, but when I reached out, I could touch Sasuke's shoulder.

I gulped, and braced myself. If Sensei was right – and there was no reason for him not to be – we were in a whole lot of trouble.

"There are eight targets…"

I jerked back a step, then turned my head swiftly, trying to pinpoint where the sound was coming from. "Wha – what was that?" my female teammate yelped. The fog was muffling everything, making it hard for me to hear what was happening, and the voice of our newest enemy was echoing disturbingly from all over the place, making me sense flashes of solid structures where I already knew there was nothing.

"Throat, spinal column, lungs, liver, jugular vein, subclavian artery, kidney, heart. So many choices… what vital, vulnerable place shall I choose?"

I swallowed again nervously, hands gripping my kunai until the tendons ached, searching in the muffled environment and trying to ignore the heavy, choking air, the feeling of breathing water, the thick smell and taste, the distracting whispers against my skin – my hands – my legs – my neck – my face –

Killer intent was flooding the air, but I ignored it, the bloodlust constantly leaking from my mindscape rising against the challenge. I wasn't fazed – I'm used to KI, and was more interested in pinpointing the Kiri bastard –

Sakura was shaking, Tazuna's heartbeat about four times too fast, Sasuke's breathing coming in short, harsh gasps – but he was ok, killer intent didn't bother him as much as it used to – Kakashi-sensei's breathing was normal if blurred by distance but where was his heartbeat?

"Don't worry, guys," his voice called out, thin and tinny through the mist. "Even if he gets me, I'll still protect you. No matter what, I will never let my comrades die."

That's all well and good, but it's very hard to protect someone when you're dead, Sensei, I thought grimly.

Chakra flared, and I felt my eyes widen slightly as Zabuza materialised directly behind me.

"Game over."

Another chakra flash, this one from Sensei, and suddenly I was being thrown away in an abrupt flash of energy that left me reeling and a splatter of water – but no one had landed near the water – and why could I still not hear Sensei's heartbeat?

That flicker –

"Sensei behind you!" I bellowed, pushing myself onto one knee.

Splash!

I heard a sword swinging and Sakura screamed, promptly followed by another splash, then –

Flicker.

"Don't move."

Sensei was fast – very fast to be able to flicker like that – but before – water clone? Felt right – like normal bunshin, with a Kiri tinge, a bit of water jutsu and Kage Bunshin mixed in –

"Game over."

He'd substituted – shunshined – bunshin in there somewhere, I hadn't quite sensed through the mist, that I now realised was faintly imbued with chakra, enough to mess with my senses – explains the tingles – the water – the fight was over so quickly –

Zabuza started to chuckle darkly, and I pulled myself all the way to my feet, suddenly edgy. "You think it's over?"

I edged towards where I thought – where I hoped – Sasuke was. I don't anymore, you lunatic…

"You just don't get it. It'll take more to beat me than just copying me like a monkey."

I don't know, it seems to be working fairly well thus far.

The assassin laughed again. "But you're good, I'll give you that. In those few precious seconds, you copied my water clone technique–" water clone, I guessed right! – "And by making your clone say the same sappy shit you'd say yourself, you made sure it had my full attention, while you used the Kirigakure technique of hiding in the mist, observing me.

"Too bad for you…"

My breath caught in my throat – another chakra flicker –

"I am not that easy to fool."

I heard the keen whistle of Zabuza's massive blade cutting the air – a brushing swish as it missed Kaka-sensei by a millimetre – a crack – a clattering crunch – then a heavy thump and Sensei was moving, fast.

And as my mind rapidly connected the violent sequence, I knew it wasn't under his own volition.

There was a loud, painful splash, and my head jerked automatically in its direction, noting Zabuza's disdainful snort with some anxiety. I couldn't hear Sensei's breathing – was it the distance – was he still underwater – knocked out – drowning –

A splash, and an audible gasp – he'd broken the surface, and I flinched as Zabuza flickered away – to stand over Kakashi-sensei. This just got very bad.

"Gullible fool. Suiton: Suiro no jutsu!"

A massive rippling splash made me scowl furiously, both nervous of the watery sound and of the fact that I couldn't see what was going on!

Zabuza laughed, the sound sending chills down my spine as I stared anxiously in the adults' direction, wondering what the hell was going on. "This prison is inescapable. You're trapped."

Shit.

"You running around makes it difficult for me to do what I'm paid for," Zabuza said flippantly, talking more to Kakashi-sensei than us, I think. "I'll finish you later, after I've dealt with the others."

I swallowed and went stiff, resisting any and all instinct to panic. Sakura was shaking slightly and Sasuke was tense; our client behind us was trembling like a leaf. Che. Civilians.

Zabuza's chakra flickered slightly, the essence that I was starting to recognise as a water clone jutsu attracting my attention with a rushing of water. The Kiri-nin (he is Kiri, right?) started to speak again, or at least it was his voice – but it was the water clone talking. "Little ninja wannabes… trying so hard, even wearing a Leaf hitai-ate. But a true ninja is one who has crossed and recrossed the barrier between the lands of the living and the dead."

I frowned slightly. What did that mean, exactly? That a ninja was the deliverer of souls to the Death God? I'd heard that before – but this didn't seem to quite fit it. More like… a ninja had to brave danger and stand on Death's doorstep to have true strength.

Low, growling laughter rang in my mind, and I wondered grimly where that would leave me.

"A headband doesn't make you a ninja. You need skills good enough to rate a listing in my Bingo Book before you deserve to be called a ninja. We don't call your kind ninja. We call them…"

He flickered out and I yelped, swinging up my arms to block and almost not getting there in time as chakra flared panickedly through my coils. The clone's foot slammed powerfully against my forearms and I was flung backwards with the force, rolling over and over dizzyingly through the dust, my headband clattering on the floor nearby, one end wrapped loosely around my wrist.

"…brats."

My teammates were shouting surprise fear loud loud sharp fear as I scrambled to my feet, gasping for the air that had been forced out of my lungs. This was very bad. I let my eyes flicker uselessly over the battlefield as my mind put all the broken pieces together.

Sensei, captured.

Zabuza, the boiling chakra in my senses, edged with nothingness.

Mizu bunshin, a glint of fluid chakra.

The curve of the lake lapping the shore.

My teammates.

The civilian.

Sasuke…

A slow smile worked its way onto my face as I tied my hitai-ate firmly around my head again. If we could get this to work… if I wasn't overestimating my skill… we would survive this.

"Sasuke," I spoke up, palming a couple of sheets of paper. "I think I've got something." I quickly muttered an abbreviated explanation and slipped him the bundle, already beginning to shift and move surreptitiously to the side, inhaling slowly and focusing.

"Guys, what are you doing?" Kakashi-sensei shouted, his words slightly muffled – like he was underwater? "This was over as soon as I got caught! Get Tazuna out of here! You three can't face up to Zabuza!"

"Theoretically, three genin can take down a jounin," Sasuke said determinedly. There was a clank kunai and a rustle of dirt as he shifted his heels for better grip, getting ready.

"You don't understand!" Kakashi thundered, and I fought not to jerk and attract attention. Slow, steady and natural, drawing myself inward. I was a part of the shifting wind, fading from existence. "Zabuza is a Kiri ninja! They're nothing like what you've fought before! Run for it!"

There was a hitch in Sasuke's muffled breathing as I slid a few more feet away through the heavy, tingling mist. Mist… yeah… wasn't there something wacked out about Kiri's training system…?

"Those who break the rules are trash, those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash," Sasuke quoted, his voice becoming tinny and wavering as I moved silently, inconspicuously around the shore as the distance between us increased. "Hypocrite. We're not leaving you behind."

I nearly flinched again as an irregular, jerking noise wound its way through the foggy air to my ears. Zabuza was laughing. I took a slow breath, only releasing the whisper of air when the wind stirred around me, the sound masked by the faint breeze. Laughter. Was. Bad.

"You guys will never grow up," he sneered, and I scowled at the threat. "Going to keep on playing ninja? I warn you now that when I was your age, my hands were already dyed red with the blood of the dead!" I sensed the mizu bunshin fluid curve chakra move – and then clack clack crash whoooosh and the chakra folded in on itself and slid away, reassembling a few metres away from Sasuke, a few metres closer to me.

"Get out of here!" Kakashi's voice was thin and barely there, and there was soft cold freezing water lapping my toes but I didn't react, didn't flinch, not entirely there, nothing here don't look here I'm not here nothing here – his voice took on the quality of a storyteller in spite of the situation – "Long ago, in the Mist Village, known as the Bloody Mist, there was a final obstacle to be overcome on your path to being a ninja…"

"Hm? You even know about the graduation exam…"

That exam… like our bunshin? No… it was worse than that… can't remember… …why does Sensei know? Village secrets… information… S-class… I'm forgetting something, I know I am, but just wait just listen hang on just a few more steps –

"W-what exam?" Sakura chirped, her voice so far away and faltering.

"The final exam… it was a fight to the death between the students," Zabuza answered. If I hadn't already been so deep I would have gasped, the information mixing with what I could remember and slotting in like a missing puzzle piece. Every village has its secrets, I thought, and shifted.

"Friends who have trained together, learned together and eaten at the same table for most of their lives are pitted against each other… they are forced to fight until one of them loses their life…" His voice echoed around me, and I half-paused, trying to judge the distance. "These are friends who had helped each other, shared their hopes and dreams and their very lives…"

"That's horrible…" Sakura murmured, as if from very far away.

"Ten years ago, the graduation exam of Kirigakure was… forced to change." Kakashi-sensei spoke now. "This change occurred after the previous year… when a demon appeared."

I blinked.

"Change?" Sakura questioned aloud, when neither Sasuke nor I said anything to keep the conversation going. "What change? What did this… demon… do?"

There was an unsettled pause of maybe two seconds.

"Without pause or hesitation, a young boy who was not even a ninja yet killed over a hundred of the other students."

"Ah… those were the days…" Zabuza sounded almost nostalgic, if not for the KI I was able to sense as I slowly came out of Hiding.

"That was our daring friend Zabuza here…" Kakashi-sensei continued, his voice ringing stronger in my mind. "That's how he earned his nickname… the Demon of the Mist."

"Demon of the Mist, huh?" The laughing chuckle echoing around me made my empty chest cavity reverberate with the force of it. "This fool had best prepare to meet the Demon of the Leaf!"

I ignored the voice and braced myself, hoping Sasuke wasn't freezing up with the burning waves of killer intent and hoping the chakra-charged mist wasn't tipping me off my target with its buzzing hum. Then I heard the skimming whir of the massive shuriken Mizuki had once used and the chang as Zabuza caught it easily. At this distance I couldn't sense the blistering chakra, but I heard a faint susurrus gasp that I didn't think was natural – water splashed – the tingle that was a tag going off and another a second or two later – a yelp of surprise – a rush of hot chakra and the fluid chakra vanished altogether –

Another low chuckle, and I braced myself, focusing, waiting for the signal. "You pathetic brats. Although I'll give you points for having the sense to aim for my real body –"

Shing–shreeeeeeeeeeeee –

There!

I threw and let the loop of wire spiral out as the kunai it was attached to flew wide, well away from the missing-nin, and I breathlessly counted, knowing that a second too late or too soon could kill us all.

Three… four… NOW!

The huff of the miniature fireballs running interference – the tiniest of charges spurting from my fingers – the kunai dropped and – there it was – the resistance – the swiping swing – and I pulled.

The three wire-strung kunai Sasuke had thrown wide now swung towards me, guided by my own wire, pulling tight around the missing-nin we had purposely aimed to miss, and I grinned. Try dodging now, bastard. I threw round stones, the paper rasping under the fingers of my right hand as my left held tight to the loop of wire keeping Zabuza captive. I heard keening knives from Sasuke, holding the other end of our impromptu net, and Kakashi-sensei was shouting something made unintelligible by distance and echoes. Explosions – the repeated tingles of my tags self-combusting –

I felt a tug on the wire and hurled my last stone, the directed tag leaving my hand a split second before the wire loosed. Zabuza had cut it. But pinned between two lines of attack and our struggling sensei, he had no choice but to bolt as our attacks scraped past.

Abruptly, the fight was out of our hands, as our sensei now attacked the missing-nin who'd been holding him prisoner. Broad flashes of chakra and clangs and cracks of contact – a swirl as they stopped and the chakra moved – they were talking, but I was too far away, and I began to shift again, moving back towards my teammates in case I was needed. Shouting, rushing, a single whisper of something –

The void vanished.

I blinked and jerked, startled, sensing Sasuke's rough heartbeat a few metres from me as the chakra-infused fog quieted slightly. The void that had been our enemy was – gone. There had been a tiny flare of chakra, but – nothing. I didn't even sense the low chakra you'd expect, of someone dying or whatever – but I've never sensed that before, so I'm not the best person to be asking.

Then, just like that, another vague void flared into existence near Sensei – I choked on a cry of shock, and Sasuke stiffened beside me – but then he relaxed, and I automatically quieted, trying to follow what was happening with senses still scrambled from the shifts. Time seemed to stretch and warp, and I shook myself a few times, trying to clear my senses and hear what was going on through the blurriness of my adrenaline rush. "-ruto?"

"Huh?" I shook my head again, blinking rapidly as if it would disperse the mist that had fallen over my mind.

"Naruto, you okay?" Sasuke was saying.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine…" I shook my head sharply, sending a tremor of pain through my neck, and everything snapped back into focus, time no longer distorting around me, and there were no chakra voids – just my team and the civilian and Sensei – although the weight of his chakra was still shifting, my senses must be unreliable, still shaken up –

Thump.

I blinked, my head tilted to where I was reasonably sure Sensei had just collapsed on the ground, his life signs feeling a little bit out, but definitely present. "Sensei!" Sakura gasped, her voice startling in its clarity.

"It's just chakra exhaustion, I think," Sasuke said, his chakra shifting and compressing ever so slightly as he knelt to check Kakashi-sensei's pulse. "I – I think he just wore himself out…"

"What was with that… the Mist ninja?" Sakura asked. "A hunter-nin, Sensei said?"

Another ninja…? The second void, it must have been – Zabuza, missing-nin, hunter-nin, Kiri must have been after him, caught up – we had some help…? Aloud, I said absently, "Hunter-nin, they're a sub-sect of ANBU, aren't they?" as I bobbed down beside my downed teacher.

"Yeah," my friend was quick to confirm. "Mist's are the best known, but Konoha's got a division or two. Hey! Tazuna-san! How far have we got to go?" I vaguely sensed the civilian startle. "We need to rest; Sensei's not looking too good right now."

"Not far now," I heard the cracked voice of the old bridge builder ring out, far clearer than it should have been, and I realised abruptly that all of the chakra-tingles of the mist had dissipated.

"Good. Naruto, can you give me a hand to carry this idiot?"

I nodded reactively, taking the weight that was leaned on me carefully and shaking my head again, trying to get rid of the soft growling at the back of my mind. Man, that was annoying…

Why does this keep happening?

A while later, a long while later, I was going over everything I remembered about the fight, trying to piece together a rather broken series of events. Getting dragged out of my shift like I had had stuffed up my senses for far too long, making me uncertain of exactly what had been going on at the tail end of the fight. Had we even won? I mean, we were alive, but still… Sitting upright with my back against one wall of the room our team had been given, I waited until Sakura's breathing settled peacefully, indicating sleep, keeping a touch of my attention on Sensei warily in case he decided to wake up earlier than the Uchiha had guessed, before interrogating Sasuke.

"Okay, Sasuke, spill it, what happened today? I need everything – the mist screwed up my perception something bad. Did we win the fight?" He snorted and I rolled my eyes. "Shut up, did we win?"

"Yeah, you remember the hunter-nin?"

I frowned. "Only vaguely… I'm guessing we got help from one of Kiri's tracker ninja? That would definitely explain why we're alive… Okay, so Zabuza was babbling about the Sharingan at one point – that's your clan's doujutsu, right?"

"Hn," Sasuke grunted, with a tone that indicated an affirmative. "Kakashi-sensei is apparently known in the Bingo books as Kakashi of the Sharingan or Copycat Kakashi, but you picked all that up already." I nodded swiftly – he seemed to want confirmation. "Ok. At the start of the fight, Sensei pulled up his hitai-ate, and his left eye was a Sharingan eye – a high level, too, if I remember right."

My eyebrows went up a little and I felt my mouth quirking slightly. "Seriously?"

"Hn."

"The Sharingan, that's clan specific, right? Your clan! Does that mean he's an Uchiha?" My mind was whirling and clicking with thoughts, reeling them off almost faster than I could keep track of, and I zeroed in on Sasuke's reply.

"Che, I don't know. I don't think so – wrong name, 'Ha-ta-ke'. Why would it only be in one eye but not the other anyway?"

I blinked, then bit the side of my cheek lightly in thought. "Were there… was there a scar or something in or over that eye, or even the other one, to indicate previous injury? Like a cut or something?"

"Yeah, big scar over his left eye." Sasuke sounded vaguely surprised. "You think maybe…?"

"He probably got his original eye slashed out by that injury," I explained, "and the Sharingan was donated by someone else… a teammate, a friend, or something. I don't know exactly why that would happen… but… man, I really need to track down Sensei's files."

"And… if his other eye had been hurt, it could have damaged the Sharingan?" Sasuke guessed, and I nodded rapidly.

"Exactly. Either one could have been possible – ninja life isn't risk-free."

Sasuke sighed, a rough gust of air. "Speaking of which, should we set up a guard for the night? Maybe we took down Zabuza, but there might be others out there."

I nodded grimly. "Sounds like a plan. I'll take first watch, I'm not as tired as you are yet."

I ignored the faint laughter only I could hear.

"Hey! Sensei's up!"

"Ergh… I'm severely wounded, Naruto, do you really feel the need to shout at me…?"

I beamed, thrilled that our main source of information/security/protection was awake at last. "I'm not shouting at you, Sensei, I'm shouting for you! GUYS! HE'S AWAKE!"

"I feel hung-over…" Kakashi-sensei mumbled, almost silently.

"Well that's what you get for using up all your chakra," I informed him cheerfully, hearing Sasuke's faint footsteps tapping the stairs – onetwothreefourfiveskip automatically skipping the creaky one – as Sakura came up behind him.

"Sensei! You're awake!" Sakura cried as she swung the door open. I wondered if I should be offended at her lack of trust in my observational skills, but decided it wasn't worth the effort. "I was so worried! I mean, chakra exhaustion's really serious! If that hunter-nin hadn't come along we might not have made it!"

There was a pregnant, unexpected pause, and our teacher's mood seemed to darken as he shifted to sit up, a significant change in the air that made me look at him anxiously. "Kakashi-sensei? What's wrong?"

"Hmm… The hunter-nin… Of course…" Had he figured out whatever was bothering him? It didn't sound like good news, whatever it was. "The shinobi hunters who manage corpse disposals are supposed to destroy the bodies of those they kill at once, right on the spot."

Sakura was unmoved by this piece of information. "So what?" I couldn't say I was particularly impressed either, but I did agree with Sensei: something was ringing wrong about the whole situation. As I listened to him grimly explaining the so-called hunter-nin, Zabuza's false death and how we would have to be ready for anything, I sighed. Things are never simple, are they?

The training schedule? It's amazing, the innocent things our sensei makes sound like death threats.

Kakashi's Log

I've been out of S-rank missions for a long time now. Suddenly running into an A-rank missing-nin with three green genin and a client to protect is not fun.

On the plus side, my genin have definitely got some tactical skills I haven't seen them showing before, although their teamwork continues to astonish. Note: I have yet to see those Academy reports. Must remember to check when we get back.

On the minus side, they are all MORONS for not following orders and getting the hell out of there when I told them to.

Also on the plus side, they took my warning when I first met them to heart. Although maybe that should be on the minus side…

Note: DEFINITELY get Naruto's ears checked for hypersensitivity. He froze up when the ocean got too loud, apparently overpowering all his other senses. I can do that while we're in Wave, fortunately.

I have decided. I DO NOT WANT A GENIN TEAM. EVER. EVER. AGAIN!

Techniques:

Kirigakure no jutsu (Hidden in the Mist)
If you remember last chapter's little explanation, then you'll have picked up that this jutsu meant 'hidden in the mist' – and that's pretty much what it does. The user focuses their chakra and disperses it through the air, using it to condense water into a thick, heavy mist that makes it impossible to see things. In the anime and manga, hearing is the sense most relied on when using this technique, but mist and fog can cause sounds to echo a little out of whack; Hatake Kakashi uses scent to track his opponents through it. It's not an attack jutsu, but it can be very annoying, and is native to the Mist Village.

Mizu Bunshin (Water Clone)
This is basically a clone, like the original illusionary bunshin taught to students, but is closer to Kage bunshin in its makeup: it's solid, can take some damage, and takes less chakra to make than a Kage bunshin, but it also requires a water source for anyone except a true master of the water element, and is rumoured to be able to take less damage and to be the second-weakest version of clones.

Suiton: Suiro no jutsu (Water Release: Water Prison)
This jutsu causes a bubble of water to encase the target, and is said to be impossible to escape from. However, the user must be touching the bubble for it to hold, making it a short-range jutsu and therefore a bit risky; it also needs a water source unless the user is a water master. There is some argument about whether or not captives can breathe, as Hatake Kakashi was known to hold an entire conversation while being held in the Suiro, but the exact physics of how that would happen is unknown.

Concept of the Day: Pronunciation

Japanese is a far more syllabic language than English. Where an English letter's sound changes depending on the other letters around it, the Japanese sounds remain pretty much the same no matter what you do with them. Sounds can be altered or extended with particular punctuation marks, but not completely warped like English.

An example of this in action is a favoured insult in the Naruto fandom: 'dobe'. By basic English pronunciation, this word has only one syllable, pronounced 'dohb' with a very soft 'b' sound. Japanese pronunciation dictates two distinct syllables and a stronger 'b' sound, 'doh-beh'.

This syllable thing may sound confusing, but people who study Japanese will understand how the syllables are organised in hiragana and katakana.

A/N: Well, that was entertaining. For those of you who, like me, are far enough along in their understanding that the little sections at the end of each chapter acting as translator are annoying, I apologise. However, I remember how freaking confusing it was to have random Japanese in a story without translations. For a story like Who I Am that only uses titbits for effect, this isn't as much of a problem, as I don't use most of the Japanese vocabulary that I could, for the fact that it's confusing, and if someone's reading this, it's because they are an ENGLISH speaker… and four out of seven schools don't offer Japanese as a LOTE. So bear with me, guys, and remember it could be worse.