" Finally!" shouted Naruto, striding though the village gates. " A real mission!"
" You guys better be good." grumbled Tazuna. " I paid for real ninja, not a bunch of kids."
" Don't worry." said Sakura, who was walking besides him. " Kaka-sensei is really good. You won't have any problem."
" Plus," said Kakashi, who was reading as he walked. " This is a C-Rank mission. There's no real chance of combat."
" But there is a chance!" said Naruto, looking around. Sasuke just huffed.
The past three weeks had been awesome. While Kakashi wouldn't train then in any new ninjutsu or genjutsu yet, he'd been working on their taijutsu. Naruto knew he had gotten better, and even if Sasuke was still light years ahead of him, he was feeling good.
Naruto's teleportation jutsu was the envy of his team. When he sparred with Sasuke or Sakura, he could always get a few hits in using it to teleport around, avoiding attack with ease. They were able to use replacements, but it just wasn't the same. High speed movement against instantaneous travel always ended in instant's favor. He tried not to use paper seals wastefully, as he only had the patience to make one or two a day, but he ended up needing to. He had five for this mission, as well as the teleportation kunai.
However, he was pretty jealous of his teammates, too.
Sakura, after the shouting match, had immediately begun to work on some new tricks. Rather than going the chakra route, she had decided to improve her already first rate trap skills. Snares, tripwires, spring loaded senbon launchers…..it wasn't much fun. And that was discounting the exploding tags that were her favorite. Since this was supposed to be a easy mission she didn't go overboard, but she'd brought a trap making kit, extra kunai, and two dozen exploding tags.
Needless to say, in this universe, she'll be more useful.
Sasuke, Naruto grudgingly had to admit, was better than him. The Uchiha was faster, stronger, and more skilled, had two powerful attack techniques, and was very hard to surprise. Naruto's biggest advantage was the fact that even the great Sasuke got tired before he did.
" Hey, Sakura-chan." said Naruto, breaking the silence as they walked. " Did you bring anything to eat?"
" Of course!" she replied, sounding insulted.
" Good. I just realized I don't have any way to cook my ramen out here." said Naruto, sounding sad. " I might have to borrow something."
" Naruto, why-"
" I mean, your on a diet anyways, right? So you won't eat it all, right?" he said, not noticing her anger.
" Naruto, you are responsible or your own supplies. " said Kakashi. " If you don't have anything, you'll have to find it yourself."
" Why don't you just teleport back to the village?" said Sasuke, walking around a puddle. It hasn't rained….why would that be there? he thought.
" Well, I could. I've got a few seals on the ramen stand for when I'm in the village." said Naruto with a sigh. " But I don't think I could go that far. I've got enough chakra for it, I just don't have enough control."
" What happened if you lose control?" asked Sakura curiously.
" I have no clue." said Naruto. " But since I'm teleporting my body, I don't want to know. I'm trying to stick to jumps I can do. That way, I practice…."
He was cut off as two cloaked men leapt from the puddle. The genin watched in horror as a strange bladed chain wrapped around Kakashi and sliced him to pieces. The two ninja then turned their attention to the old man.
" Sensei!" shouted Sakura, drawing a weapon. " They got sensei!"
" No way!" said Naruto, wide eyed.
The two ninja ran forwards towards them, spreading out so the chain was stretched between them. Sasuke lunged forward and delivered a kick to the one of the left, knocking him back. Sakura leapt in front of the dumbstruck Tazuna, acting as the final defense. Naruto, unfortunately, recovered too slowly and the other ninja had already swung a clawed fist at him.
With no time left, he drew his special kunai and parried.
Naruto was knocked back by the older mans strength, but managed to avoid being hit. He was glad to see that he'd done something, however, as there was a chunk cut from the gauntlet and the ninja's hand was bleeding. With a snarl the ninja leapt at him to finish the job, but Naruto flicked the kunai into the air above them. As the water ninja jabbed his bladed hand forwards Naruto vanished, re-appearing and grabbing the kunai. He landed on the mans back and kicked him forward.
The sound the mans head made as he hit a tree was delightful.
" Woah!" said Naruto, falling to the ground. He looked up and saw that the other ninja on the ground besided a triumphant looking Sasuke. Sakura looked relieved, the old man looked shocked….and Kakashi was standing there?
" Wait, sensei, your alive!" said Naruto, running over.
" I am." he said with a smile. " I used a replacement jutsu to escape. I was going to stay out of the fight long enough to see who their target was, but you two handled it pretty well."
" And if we couldn't have, Sakura-chan was there to finish them!" said Naruto, ever the flirt.
" Why did you need to know their target, sensei?" asked Sakura, focusing on the task at hand.
" Because if they were going for us, it would only be ninja from different villages fighting." said Kakashi, glancing at the guilty looking Tazuna. " But from their plan of attack, they were planning on killing him. You've got some explaining to do."
" I suppose I do." said Tazuna, gulping nervously. Having bodyguards like these was nice, unless you had deceived them.
00000000
" Why is it so foggy?"
" We're on the ocean, Naruto." said Sakura with a sigh. The small boat they had chartered was slowly making it's way towards the fog obscured Wave country in the distance. " You get fog there a lot."
" Weird." said Naruto, pulling his cloak close. Man, this thing is warm! Thanks, mom. he thought.
"We're almost there." said the rower in a whisper. " Once we hit the shore, you people get off as quick as you can."
" Why?" asked Naruto.
" The man I mentioned, Gato, has a stranglehold on our country." said Tazuna. " He's got bands of thugs that go around beating people up and he's willing to have his enemies, like me, assassinated. It's a dangerous time."
" Then we'll just kick some ass." said Naruto, looking forward as the shore came into view.
The walk though the village was disturbing. The genin could tell that once there had been more people in the village, since there were a number of empty houses, and they could also see it had once been prospers. However, now the building were all boarded up and in poor repair. The old man led them towards a road that went to his house, which was in a rather rural area.
" Why would someone do that?" asked Naruto, looking back. " I mean, make everyone poor on purpose."
" He's trying to take over." said Tazuna grimly. " Once he owns everything and everyone, he'll be able to do whatever he likes. I hear he's planning to have the forests cut down to sell though his lumber companies and then he'll strip mine the place. After that, he'll just abandon us. Most of his interests lie in other ventures. We're not even a major investment."
Meanwhile, Sakura was deep in thought.
I've got to do something next time. she decided. Sasuke-kun and Naruto already proved they were good, but I didn't-
She snapped out of it when she heard a rustle in the bushes. She spun on the spot instantly, hurling a kunai.
" Sakura, be careful." said Kakashi, surprised by her actions. " Kunai are sharp."
" I heard something." she said, dashing over. She moved the bushes aside….to reveal a white rabbit impaled with a kunai.
" You killed a bunny!" said Naruto in shock.
" I didn't mean to!" said Sakura, horrified by her actions. The rabbit had, tragically, been quite cute, and any girl that kills something cute will obviously be quite upset. " I thought I heard someone moving!"
" Are you sure you trust her with those things?" grumbled Tazuna. " Does a girl have the sense to be a ninja?"
Sakura spun, throwing another. It whizzed above Tazuna head, a explosive tag trailing behind.
" Sakura-!"
" Got him!" shouted Sakura as the kunai stuck the tree she had seen the figure hiding in. There was a explosion and splinters began to rain down on them.
" What?" said Kakashi, looking to the explosion."
" Sensei, there was someone. They used a replacement jutsu to switch with the rabbit. I heard him in the tree." she said.
" I don't see anyone." said Naruto, looking over. " Did you blow him up, Sakura-chan?"
" Down!" shouted Sasuke. Everyone hit the ground and a second later a gigantic sword flew over them. They looked up as a tall, muscular man with a bandaged face appeared and caught the weapon, standing calmly a short distance from them.
" Good job, everyone." said Kakashi, standing up.
" Who's this guy?" asked Naruto.
" A very dangerous opponent." said Kakashi. " Zabuza, Demon of the Mist."
" I'm honored that's you'd know me, Kakashi of the Sharingan." said Zabuza, hefting his sword. " I'll give you two choices. Die by my sword or give me the old man."
" That's not really a choice." said Sakura.
" You three, get back." said Kakashi, ushering them off. " This guy is way above your level. I can take him, though."
" Sensei, we can-"
" No, Naruto." said the jounin, cutting of Naruto as he revealed his Sharingan. " He's way above you. Take the old man and run."
" Run where?" said Zabuza, appearing in the middle of their group as mist began to fill the air. He swung the sword towards the old man, but Kakashi kicked it to the side. Zabuza flipped the blade into the air and launched into a vicious taijutsu combo against Kakashi as the genin moved Tazuna to safety.
Zabuza caught the sword as it fell and slashed at Kakashi viciously. The silver haired jounin ducked and rolled to the side, drawing several shuriken and throwing them. Zabuza held his sword sideways like a shield and deflected them, then settled into a relaxed pose.
" As I guessed, you are excellent." said Zabuza. " With your eye you can see though my every attack."
" Indeed." said Kakashi, standing up straight. " It's useless to keep fighting me."
" It is while your eye is useful." said Zabuza. " But what if we remove sight from the equation?"
He performed a hand seal and vanished into the thickening mist.
" Not good." said Kakashi, backing towards the genin.
" Where'd he go?" asked Naruto, looking around.
" Zabuza is a ex-Mist ANBU." said Kakashi. " He's a master of the silent kill. He attacks in the mist, using only sound to locate us, and kills us before he realize he's there."
" We need to get out of the mist." said Sasuke. " Or get rid of it."
" Correct. But I doubt he'll let us run." said Kakashi. " If you'll do the honors…"
" Katon: Grand Fireball Jutsu!" said Sasuke, forming two hand seals and breathing in. He exhaled a gigantic fireball which blasted a hole in the fog bank. Unfortunately, the mist began to fill in immediately.
" It was worth a shot, but I thought that might happen." said Kakashi. " A master of the Hidden Mist jutsu can make it so the mist continues to form. We won't be able to get out."
" What can we do, then?" asked Sakura.
" Die." said Zabuza's voice. Naruto realized that a hand with a kunai in it had hooked around his neck. He would have died right there had Sakura not kicked him in the head, knocking him over just so that the kunai slashed over his head. Zabuza swore and vanished again.
" Naruto, are you all right?" asked Sakura, helping him up.
" Yeah." he said woozily. " Thanks, Sakura-chan. Your really good at hitting me."
" We need to get rid of all the mist at once." said Kakashi. " I've got a jutsu that might work, but I'd be useless afterwards. Sasuke, can you make a larger fireball?"
" Sensei, let me." said Sakura, drawing out a pack of kunai with explosive tags wrapped around the handles. Kakashi nodded and she threw them in several directions. She formed the detonation seal and the area around them exploded, dispersing the mist instantly. " That's most of what I had." she said, looking around. The small woodland area they were in now appeared desolate and was burning. However, they could see Zabuza watching them, looking annoyed.
" Those students of yours are bothering me, Kakashi." he said. " I'm trying to fight you, but they are in the way. I suppose it's only fair I bring out my student."
Suddenly, a woman in a green robe and white mask landed besides them.
" And who's that?" asked Naruto, palming a paper seal and drawing his teleportation kunai.
" No clue." said Kakashi. " My guess is another missing-nin that joined up with him."
" No." said Zabuza with a laugh. " Just something I found. Haku, kill the brats. I'll take on Kakashi."
" Yes, Master Zabuza." said the woman.
" All right." said Naruto, sticking a paper seal to Sakura and Sasuke's backs. " We get to fight too."
" Be careful." said Kakashi, looking towards Zabuza. " I won't be able to help you. Remember, team work."
" I know." said Naruto, smiling as the green robed woman walked towards them. There was a blur as Kakashi and Zabuza vanished.
" Hello." said the woman in a soft voice. " My name is Haku. I am sorry, but I will have to kill you."
" Bring it!" shouted Naruto, charging. He leapt in a flying kick but the woman blocked with lightning speed, launching him back.
" I will make this quick and try to make it painless." said Haku, forming a hand seal. Suddenly, the vapors left in the air condensed into ice and formed the shape of shuriken. The flew toward the genin, bur Sasuke performed the Shadow Shuriken jutsu and threw two handfuls, which multiplied in midair and blocked the ice projectiles. A number also flew towards Haku, but the ninja vanished in a blur of speed, lunging towards them. Sasuke managed to block at the last second, but was thrown to the side. Sakura tried stabbing Haku with a kunai but the speedy ninja parried with a senbon which was then flicked into Sakura's shoulder. The pink haired girl cried in pain as it buried itself in deep.
" Bastard!" shouted Naruto, leaping and punching at Haku. "Don't hit-!"
BAM.
A powerful punch connected with Naruto's face sending him sprawling. Sasuke leapt to his feet as Sakura dodged away, already gathering chakra. He fired another fireball at Haku, but it was intercepted by a wall of ice which suddenly rose from the moist ground.
" Dammit!" Sasuke swore. " She's too good!"
" She…?" said Haku. " Oh, I see. It might not serve any purpose telling you, but I'm a boy."
No way! thought Sakura, pulling the senbon from her shoulder. His butt looks better than Ino's!
" You three are quite good." said Haku, drawing a handful of senbon. " In time, I imagine you could have become very strong. But this ends now."
Haku threw the senbon as hard as he could. The needles flew towards Sakura and Sasuke so fast that, even prepared as they were, they didn't have time to dodge. Before they struck, however, there was a flash of light in front of Sakura. Naruto appeared, blocking the senbon with his body. A second later he vanished again, appearing by Sasuke and pushing the Uchiha out of the way.
" Naruto!" shouted Sasuke, getting to his feet. The blonde boy didn't answer. He was standing still with dozens of needles sticking out of his torso. Sakura threw her last explosive kunai at Haku, who dodged away from the explosion with ease.
" Ha." chuckled Naruto, blood dripping from his mouth. " Hey, Sasuke. Guess what? I saved your life."
Slowly, the blonde fell to the side. Sakura managed to catch him at the last second.
" Naruto!" she cried, shaking him. " Don't pass out! Naruto!"
" You are a very precious people to him, aren't you?" asked Haku, drawing another handful of senbon as he looked to Sasuke. " He gave his life to save you so willingly. I wish I could have known him."
Sasuke's eyes began to burn.
" But you are still going to die." said Haku, hurling the needles at Sasuke.
It his eyes were made of molten steel. The pain was so immense, so overwhelming he should have passed out, but for some reason it also forced him on. Sasuke watched as the blue glow of chakra began to appear, the movement of the needles slowed to a crawl, and every movement became predictable. He knew which way each cinder from the burnins trees would go, he knew exactly how Haku was shifting his stance….
He knew exactly how to deflect every senbon from hitting him and Sakura.
" How?" said Haku in alarm as Sasuke move in a blur, countering every attack.
" My Sharingan have activated." said Sasuke, looking up. His eyes had gone red with a single tomoe appearing, spinning rapidly. " My power, the power of the greatest of all ninja clans. Sakura, get Naruto and Tazuna out of here. I'll take him."
" Right!" said Sakura, picking up Naruto's limp body.
" This way!" said the old bridge builder, racing into the woods.
Haku charged Sasuke, but it just wasn't the same. Sasuke had been able to match the boys speed fairly well before, but now it wasn't even a significant effort. Every punch, kick, and stab was parried and countered, and after ten second's he had beaten Haku back.
Unfortunately for him, Haku had a lot more tricks left.
The shuriken made of ice formed again, attacking from every direction and forcing Sasuke to splint his attention. While Sasuke dodged the weapons, Haku formed another hand seal, several mirrors made of ice appearing. He leapt into one and began his ultimate attack.
While Sasuke could see the senbon coming, it was just too much. Countless needles from every one of the mirrors fired at him while the green blur that was Haku dashed around, propelled by his mirrors at the speed of light. For every ten needles he dodged one hit, and every time he tried to escape the mirrors range Haku would force him back.
How can his speed have increased? thought Sasuke, watching as his opponent launched from another mirror. This has to be some sort of bloodline. There's no normal jutsu that could do this.
He would have soon lost had Kakashi and Zabuza's fight not spilled out of the woods towards them.
Zabuza was slashing frantically at Kakashi, who's hand was covered with a crackling energy. Kakashi had a few cuts on him, but it looked like Zabuza had been bitten a number of times. The mist ninja looked weak from blood loss and as Kakashi closed in for the kill, it was obvious who was going to win.
Until a ice mirror appeared besides Zabuza and Haku leapt out. As Kakashi jabbed his attack forward Haku interposed himself between his master and Kakashi, and the energy blade struck him straight in the chest. Kakashi dodged back as the boy fell to the ground.
" Haku!" said Zabuza in alarm, looking down as the boy began to spit up blood. While the attack had hit him, it had missed his heart and only pierced a lung. " You win this round." said Zabuza, scooping up the wounded boy and vanishing in a puff of smoke.
" Sensei!" yelled Sasuke, racing over. " He was just too fast. I couldn't stop him." he said.
" I understand." said Kakashi, covering his Sharingan. " Zabuza told me. The boy had a first rate bloodline. Are you okay?"
" My wounds aren't bad." said Sasuke, looking at the senbon. None of the hits were too dangerous, but they did impede his movement. Then he remembered Naruto. " Sensei, Naruto got hit. I think he might die."
" Where is he?" said Kakashi in alarm.
" Follow me." said Sasuke, running into the woods in the direction Sakura and Tazuna had run. Dammit, Naruto, you'd better be alive! he thought.
00000000
This wasn't so bad.
It was soft like a nice bed…..he could feel the sun on his face…..
Naruto had to admit, being dead wasn't nearly as unpleasant as everyone had said. Sure, he could feel all the wounds from the needles, but at least he was comfortable. At least, he was until he realized he was thirsty.
" Hey!" he said irately, sitting up. " Can I get some water?"
" Naruto!"
" Sakura-chan!" he said in alarm, opening his eyes. He was in a small, well kept bedroom. Sakura was standing beside him. " No! You died? But I saved you!"
" I didn't die, Naruto." she said, hugging him.
" Then why are you in heaven?" said Naruto, confused. " Oh, I get it! Your not the real Sakura!"
" What?" said Sakura, confused herself.
" Wow. This is nice." he said, looking around. " My own personal Sakura-chan….a soft mattress….I wonder if my moms here. Hey, Sakura-chan, could I have some water?"
" What's going on?" said Kakashi, walking into the room. He looked tired and slumped down in a chair.
" I get my own personal Kaka-sensei?" said Naruto. He then smiled wide. " Awesome! I figured I'd have to stop training after I died!"
" What are you talking about, baka?" asked Sasuke from the doorway.
" What the hell?" said Naruto in alarm. " Why the hell are you here?"
" Because I heard you shouting." said Sasuke, looking bored. " You've been unconscious since yesterday."
" Wait, I'm not dead?"
" No, Naruto." said Sakura with a sigh.
" Yes!" said Naruto, throwing his hands over his head.
" You've got me to thank for that." said Kakashi. " I had to spend a few hours patching you up. I'm glad you were willing to sacrifice yourself to save your teammates, but try not to do that, okay?"
" Okay." said Naruto, rubbing the back of his head. " So, did we win?"
" It was a draw." sighed Kakashi. " But Zabuza and Haku were in pretty bad shape when they left. And to tell you the truth, I'm not doing to well at the moment. I overused by Sharingan, so my body was pretty messed up before I had to use a lot of chakra to heal you. I don't think I'll be able to do much more than rest for a few days."
" Hello." said a woman at the door. She was dressed in plain clothes, but looked quite pretty. " I heard you asking for some water?" she asked, walking over with a tray. " I also brought some food. It's ramen, but you should eat up. It's good for you."
" I don't know who you are, but I'd like to marry you." said Naruto, staring at her wonder.
" Thanks, but no thanks." said the woman with a smile as she set the tray down for Naruto, who immediately began to scarf the food down. " My name is Tsunami. I'm the daughter of Tazuna and your host."
" Thanks for the ramen, then." said Naruto with a smile.
0000000000
Meanwhile, Zabuza was bandaging his arms. The dogs had done quite a number on him, but he hadn't been able to tend to himself until Haku was stable. The frail looking boy was resting in the bed, sleeping soundly.
" I see you lost." said Gato, walking into the room with his two guards. " Pathetic. I'd expected you to do begRRAKK!"
Zabuza, in a foul mood, had thrown a kunai into his employers neck.
" You two." said Zabuza, standing up and towering over the guards. His bloody, scar covered body was quite intimidating and he was radiating all the killer intent he could. " Tell the others. I'm in charge now."
" Y-you bastard!" said one of the thugs, shaking as he held his sword. " W-with Gato dead…"
" Nothings changed." said Zabuza. " We'll still be taking over this country. We'll just be doing so faster. Search the villages and bring every doctor you can here. Anyone who disobeys me will die. You do a good job, however, I'll pay you more than Gato ever would. Got it?"
" Y-yes, Zabuza-sama." said one of the thugs, running from the room.
The next time we fight, Kakashi, thought Zabuza, gazing from the window into the forests. I won't lose. I'll kill your students while you watch helplessly, then cut your damn head off.
For good measure, he kicked Gato's lifeless corpse.
0000000000
Different, Eh? How will things turn out? Find out next time on the conclusion of the Wave Country Arc!
Rock on, princess.