A Story

by BreakingWater21

This is a story mainly centered around my own character but contains all of the Naruto characters except Sakura...shiver... Read the Prelude for the background. Everyone's older than in the series.

2. Part II: Mission Number 1

Part II: Mission Number 1

After a few stupid missions here and there, Naruto finally had enough. They were in the main room where the Hokage was overseeing the mission operation. Kakashi's team had just finished a small mission of watching some rich woman's dogs. Naruto as usual was a little beat-up.

"All right, your next mission consists of cleaning the yard, house, and lake of Mrs. Iroshi," the man sitting next to the Hokage read off of his scroll.

"What?" Naruto complained. "What is this crap?" he said becoming a little angry. "Why can't we do something exciting? Something more dangerous and important!"

"Hm?" the Hokage looked up at Naruto.

"I can't accept this!" Naruto said trying to act important. "I, a great ninja, should not be forced to do such insignificant jobs as these all the time!"

"Did you not hear my explanation of missions on your first day?" the Hokage said becoming a little annoyed.

"Of course I did!" Naruto said.

"Shut up, Naruto," Kakashi said and put his hand on his head.

"NO! I will not shut up!" Naruto said pushing Kakashi's arm off. "We need something harder! Something better! How are we ever going to get stronger by doing weak chores like these? It's been so boring! We haven't even fought with a real enemy yet, for cryin' out loud!"

Sora sighed. He's got a point. Sasuke also silently agreed.

"Naruto," Kakashi said sharply.

"I refuse to move until you give us a better mission! I'm not the child I used to be anymore! I'm a ninja and I'll be a hardworking ninja if you just give me the chance!" Naruto crossed his arms and sat in the middle of the room, unwilling to budge.

I'm going to be scolded later, Kakashi thought and grabbed Naruto's arm. "Naruto, you-"

"Wait a minute, Sensei," the Hokage interrupted surprisingly. Kakashi let go and looked at him in surprise. The Hokage puffed a bit on his pipe while recalling the many mischievous deeds done by Naruto before he graduated. He remembered the graffiti on the faces of the Hokages on the cliff, the petty thefts of ramen from the local store, the sexy no jutsu that Naruto always used to perform… "Eh-hem," he cleared his throat at the thought of it. "All right, I'll give you and your team a chance today. I will assign you a C-ranked mission."

Naruto's eyes brightened up. "Really?"

Sora and Sasuke both felt a little more excited. I didn't think he'd pull it off, Sora thought as she smiled to herself.

"What are we doing?" Naruto asked quickly getting up.

"Well, you're going to be escorting someone-"

"What? Like a princess? Or a leader of some tribe? Who? Who?" Naruto said getting really excited.

"Eh-herm…no," the Hokage said beginning to regret his decision. "He's a very important man, though."

"Important!" Naruto said with glee.

"You can come in now," the Hokage called.

A man smelling of alcohol with a bottle in his hand came stumbling in. He was middle aged, a little older than Kakashi but had a rough appearance about him. He was muscular and dark and actually pretty handsome if it wasn't for his drunkenness. "Yeah?" he said groggily while taking a swig.

Naruto's mouth fell open. "What?" Sasuke was also disappointed but held it in. Sora wasn't too thrilled either.

"You are to escort Tazuna-sama to his village in the Land of the Waves," the Hokage said. "You are to protect him until his job is complete so this might take you weeks or months depending upon the progress of his project."

Naruto's mouth snapped shut. "We get to go out of the village?"

"Hey, wut're these kids doing here?" Tazuna slurred.

"They are your escorts, sir," the Hokage said calmly.

"Escorts? Are they even ninjas?"

Naruto's eyes flamed. "What? Of course we are!"

"Well, they certainly don' look like ninjas…especially the short one."

"Hahaha," Naruto said naively. "Who's the short one?" Sora and Sasuke both walked closer to him and found that Naruto was indeed the shortest one of them all. Naruto fell over twitching.

"Don't worry Naruto. Every guy gets his growth spurt someday!" Sora said happily. She could barely keep herself from laughing.

At the sound of her voice, Tazuna looked at her. Wut a babe…maybe this won' be so bad… He was obviously still drunk.

Kakashi and Sasuke both saw how Tazuna looked at Sora and both felt a wave of jealousy.

Naruto shot up with flames in his eyes again. "I'll tell you now! I'm gonna be the greatest ninja ever and then you'll see!" He began to rush at Tazuna but Kakashi held him back.

Kakashi sighed. This is going to be hard on all of us…

A half an hour later, they each had a backpack on full of necessities and other stuff and were standing outside the village gates. Naruto was ecstatic.

"Whoa! Wow! I've never been outside the village before!" He kept jumping around and looking at the wall of the village.

Sora smiled. Sasuke grunted. He's so naïve...

Tazuna was getting his hat tied on. "Well," he said. He was a little bit more sober and could basically think straight. "My country is to the southeast of here."

Kakashi looked at the sun. "Yes, we should take this path to the forest." He had been to the Land of the Waves before so the group was in good navigation hands.

As they were walking down the road, Sora began to ask Tazuna questions about his village since she had never been there. "Are there many people there?"

"No, we are a small village but we like it that way as long as it doesn't die out," Tazuna answered. He liked talking to this girl. She's beautiful…

"Oh, I see," Sora said with a smile. "I've been to your country before but I've never been to your village. I have heard about it though."

"Have you?"

"Actually, I think I've heard about you before. You're the famous bridge maker, aren't you?"

He was surprised that she knew that. "Yes, I am."

"Bridge maker?" Naruto asked. "What's that?"

"He builds bridges," Sasuke told Naruto bluntly and sarcastically.

Naruto went red. "I knew that!" he said. "How have you heard of him, Sora-chan?"

"Hm, well, when I was training in his country, I was in the city of Ashiba. One of your bridges is there, right?"

"That's right."

"It's a beautiful and sturdy bridge and legend has it that if you're kissed on the bridge when the tide comes in, you'll be forever united with the one you kissed," Sora said laughing.

"Really?" Naruto asked.

Sora laughed. "It's just a legend."

Sasuke couldn't help but remember his kiss to Sora. Sora, do you even remember? She seemed to be ignoring him the whole day.

"So have you been to like all the countries then, Sora-chan?" Naruto asked.

"Well, most of them."

She has an advantage in that aspect, Kakashi thought. Youths usually don't leave their village until they are on missions like this. And she traveled for training? I wonder why she chose Konoha to complete her training.

The group had walked into the forest and was now on a dirt path. The sun was shining high in the sky. Kakashi noticed a water puddle. Strange… No one else sensed a presence. Little did the Genins and Tazuna know they were being followed by two persons. Then…

The sound of rushing chains filled the air coming from opposite sides. They bound Kakashi. "Uh?" He couldn't move and the chains had blades on them.

"What?" The others gasped. Then the chains tightened and sliced through Kakashi's body. Sora shut her eyes. Oh my god…

Naruto was shaking. What's going on? First battle? Two men came out all clad in black. He was stunned with fear.

The two men glared at him. "You're next." They rushed at Naruto with the connecting chain in between them. He couldn't move.

"Naruto!" he heard Sora's voice in the background. "Move!"

Can't… He was paralyzed. He was knocked to the ground by one of the men.

Then Sasuke threw a hook right in the middle of the chain. The impact was so great that it pinned the chain to a tree. Sasuke then threw a kunai to secure the chain in the tree. The two men were yanked back by the force and were stuck. "What?" they said in unison. Sasuke jumped in the air and landed on their arms. Then before they knew what was going on, Sasuke did a double kick backwards to their heads. The chain broke. "Change of plans, brother," one of them said.

"Yes, you're next," the other said to Sasuke. They pulled up their sleeve and revealed metal arms with spikes sticking out of them. Sasuke got ready but just at the last moment they veered off and sprinted towards Sora and Tazuna.

Sora saw them coming. "Tazuna-sama, stay behind me!" Sora got out her dagger. What if I fight? Will I have to use my real power? The thought frightened her. No! I must not… She shut her eyes and raised her dagger.

Sora! Sasuke jumped in front of her ready to protect her and Tazuna. "Stay back, Sora!" he yelled.

Sora's eyes shot open. Sasuke?

Sasuke got ready to fight as the brothers advanced but then Kakashi appeared in front of Sasuke. He punched one in the stomach and caught the head of the other in his other arm at the same time. Both brothers were stunned.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sora exclaimed with relief.

"Show-off…" muttered Sasuke.

Kakashi tied them up quickly with rope and pulled off the armor on their arms.

Naruto was still on the ground panting with a few bruises and a cut on his hand. How could…how could I be so useless? Our first battle and Sasuke handled it with no problem. How am I so weak? Naruto became angry. He got up and ran towards the group. "Sasuke!" he yelled angrily. "You interfered with my plan!"

"Hm," Sasuke said and ignored him.

Naruto was enraged. "You…"

"Naruto-kun, you're bleeding!" Sora said and she rushed over to him. She felt better now that Kakashi-sensei was back.

"Yes, you'd better not move too much. Their spikes were poison-tipped," Kakashi added as he came over to Naruto as well.

Naruto sweat-dropped. "Ah!"

Sora grabbed his hand and steadied him. "Naruto, stay still and relax."

"How did you know we were following, Jounin?" one of the brothers said.

Kakashi looked at them pitifully. "It hasn't rained in quite a while and so I think it would be strange to see a puddle of water on the path, wouldn't it?" He looked at Tazuna. "I'm sorry I didn't step in sooner."

"Why didn't you?" Tazuna said trying not to act like anything was suspicious.

"Well, I needed to see who these guys were really after. Whether it was you or someone on our team," Kakashi explained.

"I…uh…I see," Tazuna said fixing his hat.

"Oh, by the way, good job to both of you, Sasuke, Sora," Kakashi said as he approached Naruto.

Sasuke didn't say anything. He was a little worried about Sora. What's with her? She's an excellent fighter…

Sora looked down with shame. I didn't do anything…I don't know what stopped me. She felt Kakashi take Naruto's hand from her. She looked up with an embarrassed blush on her face and stood. "Tazuna-sama, are you okay?"

His heart skipped a beat. "Uh, yes, thank you for protecting me, Sora, and Sasuke," he added hastily.

"Well, Naruto," Kakashi said after inspecting it. "You're going to need medical help with this. We need to drain the poisonous blood out before it gets too far in."

"We should go back to the village," Sora said shifting gears. "Naruto, will you be able to hold on for that long?"

"Well, if we go back," Kakashi said before Naruto could say anything, "it'll sure take a lot of time."

That made Naruto mad. He pushed Kakashi's hand away. "No!" He stood up. "I'll not be a burden!" He took out his kunai.

"Naruto!" Sora exclaimed.

He shoved his knife into his hand. The poisoned blood gushed out. He winced in pain but didn't make a sound. "No…" he said holding the knife in. "I will not be the weak one. I'm going to be strong and fulfill my dreams! I can't be a wimp now or I'll never learn to be strong." He was almost in tears because of the pain. "I swear…" He paused to catch his breath. "I swear on this pain that I will never rely on anyone for anything. I swear that I will be strong and fulfill my dream to become the Hokage. I can't stop now…" He looked up in a whirl of passion and pain. "I will not lose to you, Sasuke!"

Sasuke looked at him. Interesting, he thought to himself sarcastically.

Naruto, Sora thought.

"Well, Naruto," Kakashi interjected. "You did a splendid job of removing the poison but if you keep your knife in like that, you'll die from a loss of blood."

Everyone sweat-dropped. Naruto looked down at his hand and realized the blood. "AHHHH! HELP ME! HELP ME, SENSEI!" He began to prance around in pain.

So much for not relying on anyone for anything, Sasuke thought. Pathetic.

Sora couldn't help but laugh a little.

Kakashi grabbed the frantic Naruto and began wrapping his hand with bandages. "Well," he said after he finished. "Naruto will be okay until we get to the Land of the Wave. And Tazuna,"

"Hm?" Tazuna looked up.

"I'll need to speak to you later."

Tazuna began to look away in a guilty manner. Kakashi contacted the village telling them that they needed to pick up the two brothers. He then knocked them out with a quick squeeze on the neck. "That should hold them until the others come."

Night fell quickly and they set up camp near a stream. The fire was burning brightly and everyone was sitting around it on logs. Some newly caught fish were cooking over the fire. They were all hungry. "Tazuna, we need you to tell us the truth now about this mission," Kakashi finally said.

Tazuna looked down. "Well…" he trailed off. He could feel the others staring at him. I can't lie. He sighed. "Here's the truth. Gatou, the billionaire who owns the largest shipping company in the world is trying to take over my village's economy. We're on an island so the sea is everything to us. I'm trying to stop his monopoly by building this bridge that connects us to the main land. He obviously doesn't want that to happen so he's been sending thugs to stop us at work when we try to build the bridge. That's why I needed to hire ninjas to protect me and my team while we worked."

"Those brothers were of the Chuunin level," Kakashi said. "Gatou is probably going to send more powerful Jounin ninjas after he finds out that those two guys failed. This is probably an A ranked mission. Why didn't you file for a higher level?"

Tazuna sighed again. "It's because our village is very poor. Even the feudal lords don't have much money so we can't afford for an expensive A or B ranked mission. We didn't have a choice." Now they're going to leave. I knew it was too dangerous…they're just kids.

Kakashi could sense what Tazuna was thinking. "No, we'll stay with you for no extra charge. It's the right thing to do."

"Are you sure? I mean, they're just so young…"

"You shouldn't underestimate my team," Kakashi said with a smile hidden behind the cloth that covered his mouth. "Sasuke was the number one rookie ninja for this year. Sora's a newcomer to our village and she has plenty of tricks up her sleeve. And Naruto, he's the number one ninja in surprising people." He laughed.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Naruto asked whining.

"Don't worry, Tazuna-sama," Sora said comfortingly. She touched his arm. "You might be surprised at our abilities." What am I saying? she inwardly thought. I don't even know if I should fight…I might…GEEZ! I've got to stop thinking about that. She knew that her words would comfort Tazuna.

"Thank you, Sora," Tazuna said touching her hand. He smiled.

Get your hand off of Sora, Sasuke thought but retained his collective appearance.

Naruto also felt a wave of jealousy. "Yeah!" he said loudly. Sora and Tazuna removed their hands from each others'. Sora blushed slightly and looked away. "We're the best Genin team in Konoha, ya know!"

Kakashi sighed. Now there's Tazuna, too? Sora, you're too beautiful for your own good. "Yes, we'll stay and finish this mission, but for now, we should all get some sleep. I'll take the first watch for the night."

The group began to get out their sleeping bags and other things from their packs. It was spring but it was still chilly, so throughout the night Kakashi kept the fire going. It was peaceful when everyone else was asleep. Kakashi sat near the fire. His eyes kept wandering back to Sora's sleeping figure. In this mission, Sora, I don't want you to fight. You still need to go through much training before you can be in a real battle, otherwise you're powers will get out of control…like with the snake. He thought back on the incident. Sora's blazing silver eyes…There's something inside of you. Maybe you're not much different from Naruto. He shifted his gaze to Naruto. He is the demon child. The one sacrificed to seal the Nine-Tailed demon away…forever. It's cruel, yes, but necessary. Then something struck Kakashi. He began to worry. If Sora is in a similar situation with Naruto, Sora's powers are leaking out now…how long will it be until the demon's powers start leaking out of Naruto? Just how powerful is this one inside of Sora? I've never heard of any other demons sealed away by use of a human…

The night drew on and nothing happened. Kakashi yawned. It's about time. He walked over to Naruto to wake him for his watch.

Both Naruto and Sasuke, as much as they tried, had a hard time staying awake. Sora had the last watch so she had no problem staying awake since she was basically getting up. The night sky was incredibly clear that night and she spent her time picking out constellations. The moon was waning.

When the sun began to rise, she washed her face and her hair in the stream. This is gorgeous, she thought to herself as she combed her hair. The sun is rising so much more quickly now… She thought of how close summer was and shuddered. I guess it can't be helped. She turned her head and saw the four guys still sound asleep. It's probably only 6 in the morning. She smiled and proceeded to cook some breakfast. She put more wood on the fire and began to cook some of the food they had brought with them for the journey.

Kakashi was the first to wake up. Sora didn't notice that he had stirred. He walked up to Sora so he was directly behind her. "Good morning, Sora," he said in her ear.

Sora started and her arm hit the spoon that was resting in the pot on the fire and it was flung up in the air. Shoot! she thought for that split second. Kakashi caught the spoon and smiled. "Uh, good morning, Sensei," she said blushing. That was embarrassing…

Kakashi handed her the spoon. She's so cute went she's uncomfortable. "How was your watch?" he said sitting next to her.

Sora was still a little shaky from the previous incident with the spoon. "Oh, nothing happened." She started stirring the stew in the pot. "The sunrise is absolutely gorgeous though." She looked towards the sun again.

Not as gorgeous as you are… "Yes, it is," he said and looked at the sunrise. The sun was casting a faint reddish glow on everything. Sora's already red hair shimmered as the sun enhanced the color. Kakashi glanced back at Sora trying his best to keep his hand from touching her hair. So beautiful…

Sasuke woke with the smell of the food. He wasn't especially hungry but it smelled delicious. He sat up and rubbed his eyes. He saw the backs of Kakashi and Sora sitting in front of the fire. He frowned and got up. He walked past the two and went to the stream to splash his face with water.

Sora noticed he was up. "Morning, Sasuke-kun," she said smiling.

"Morning," he said without turning around.

Sora's smile faded. Is he mad?

Kakashi noticed her expression change at Sasuke's behavior and made a mental note to himself.

Tazuna woke up next. He yawned and stretched loudly so Sora and Kakashi both knew he was up. "Ah, good morning, Sensei, Sora."

"Good morning, Tazuna-sama," Sora said politely smiling again.

"Hello," Kakashi said. "I hope you're rested because today we've got to cover quite a bit of walking and then boating."

"I'm as good as ever," he said standing up. "That smells delicious, by the way, Sora."

"Thank you," she said. "It'll be ready in about 2 minutes."

"I'm gonna go wash up then." He left the two as Sasuke returned. They exchanged a greeting as they passed. Then Sasuke took his seat on the other side of Kakashi but a little separated. He couldn't look at Sora.

Then Naruto finally woke up. He jerked himself up. "Ahhhhhhhhh," he said as he stretched his arms in the air.

"Morning, Naruto-kun," Sora said.

Naruto turned his head toward the sound. "Huh? Oh, hi, Sora-chan!" he said. He jumped up and went over to the group. He sniffed the food. "That smells really good…" He was about to just take some but Sora grabbed his wrist before it got too far.

"Tsk, tsk, what about manners," she said sweetly. Tazuna had returned and had taken his seat next to Sora. "Tazuna-sama and Kakashi-sensei first."

"Awww…" Naruto complained. But since it was Sora, "Fine, I'll go wash up." He meandered over to the stream.

Sora filled up some bowls of the stew for Tazuna and Kakashi and then some for Sasuke and herself. Sora and Tazuna began talking about his country again and the art of bridge making. Kakashi sat in a thoughtful silence and Sasuke was already finished. He got up. "I'm going to go train a little before we leave." With that he walked into the surrounding forest.

"All right," Kakashi said watching his disappearing figure. He'll be all right. I don't sense anyone but us around here.

Naruto came running back. "NOW for the food!" He helped himself to the rest of the stew since everyone else didn't want anymore and he almost ate it all in one gulp.

"Slow down, Naruto!" Sora warned him. "You're going to burn your tongue!"

Naruto put the bowl down. "Ah! That was sooo good!" He wiped his mouth and shot to his feet. "I'm ready to take on any ninja now!" He began to do some fighting stances.

Tazuna sweat-dropped. Kakashi hung his head in slight embarrassment. "Well, like I said…surprising."

Tazuna nodded in agreement.

"Where's Sasuke?" Naruto said after making some more stupid fighting poses.

"He went off to train a little bit before we left," Kakashi answered.

"WHAT?" He's going to get stronger than me! "I've got to go train now, too!" He began to run off.

"Naruto!" Sora said.

He paused in mid-stride and nearly fell over.

"You've got to wash your dishes!" Sora said handing him his own dirty bowl.

Naruto looked down at it. "Fine…" He marched off to the stream.

Finally the group was on the road again. Today they figured they could make it to Tazuna's village in no time. They came to a dock and Tazuna waved a boatman over. He had already made the arrangements. "Hello, Tazuna-sama," the boatman said. He seemed to know Tazuna very well.

"Hello," Tazuna replied a little nervously. "Are you willing to go through with this?"

"Yes, I'm sure," the boatman replied.

Kakashi looked at the two. Well, Gatou does control all the water transportation to this island so this could be very dangerous.

Tazuna got in first and signaled for Sora to come next. Sora sensed the anticipation and nervousness and got in with no hesitation. Kakashi came in closely after Sora. The two boys cast the boat off and jumped in. After rowing for a while, a thick fog came over the sea. It was very quiet.

I wonder why everything is so quiet, Naruto wondered to himself. This fog is so thick…it's even blocked out the sun. He saw the motor on the back of the boat. "Hey, hey, why aren't we using the motor?"

The boatman sort of freaked. "Ayiee! Shhhh! We have to be quiet! Gatou controls the water transportation system so if we're caught doing this, he might just send thugs to kill us. That's why I'm rowing!"

Naruto nodded. "Oh." He looked at the others. Sora was sitting with her back against the side of the boat hugging her knees. He couldn't read her expression. Is she scared? He looked at Sasuke. He was cross-legged with his eyes shut. He seemed to be thinking. Kakashi was looking and listening intently to the surroundings while Tazuna was also deep in thought. Everyone was silent. Naruto sighed. How long is this going to take? He looked behind him and saw the faint outline of something huge. "Huh?" As they neared he saw that it was the bridge. "Wow, that's huge!" he exclaimed quietly.

Tazuna looked up. "Yes, that's the bridge we're building. I hope to finish it as soon as possible but lately the construction has slowed so much. The workers are quitting for fear of their lives and I can't force them to stay. I don't blame them either."

Sora looked up to see the bridge as well. It's strange what some people will do to get power. Why? She looked down again. Why attack such a small village? She thought of her own.

"We're almost there," the boatman said. They came to a tunnel. It was pitch black but then a light could be seen at the end.

Naruto, being in the front leaned out a little to see through the fog. Then a bright burst of sunlight fell on them as they exited the tunnel. "Wow!" It was a docking area with a small tree in the middle of the water. It had spring flowers on it.

Sora looked around as well. "This is beautiful!"

The fog was completely gone and the sun was shining brightly. It was a night-day difference. "How did all that fog just stop at the tunnel?" Naruto asked.

Tazuna chuckled a little. "It is legend that a long time ago, a barrier was put in place to check the sea mist so that it wouldn't cover the island."

"Really, who put it there?"

"I don't really know but it might have been the First Kage of the Water country. He was the kind of guy who cared about everyone in his country, even a village as small as ours," Tazuna said.

"Oh." Naruto thought about the Hokage in his village. When I become Hokage, I'm going to surpass everyone one of them in power and kindness, he decided. I want to make a difference in the world…the only way is to become Hokage! He clenched his fist subconsciously.

What's he thinking? Sora thought seeing him clench his fist. She glanced over at Sasuke who finally had his eyes open and was looking at her. Their gazes locked for a few seconds. Sora gulped and tore her gaze away.

The boat stopped at one of the docks. "This is as far as I go. Take care Tazuna-sama."

"Thank you so much," Tazuna replied. The boatman started the motor and was off. Tazuna sighed. "We're finally on the island but my house is still further inland so we still have quite a ways to go."

Kakashi nodded and they began their walk again. They soon left the docking port and were once again on a path in the wilderness. On one side there was a forest of trees, on the other, a lake that was connected to the ocean by a few streams here and there.

Naruto was getting impatient. "Where the heck is your village Tazuna-sama?" he sighed. "We've been walking forever!"

"It's only a few more miles," he answered curtly.

"MILES?" Naruto said. "Ugh…" Fine, if we're going to be on this path for a few more miles then I have to prove to Sora that I'm better than Sasuke if any other ninja comes out. He ran up ahead.

"Naruto?" Kakashi said.

"Hm. Hm. Hm. I sense something here!" Naruto immediately threw a kunai into the bushes. "Hah! Gotcha!"

Everyone was shocked. "Naruto! What did you hit? There was no one there!" Sora said and rushed over to where Naruto threw his dagger.

"But, I did sense something…" Naruto said.

Sora pushed away the brush and found a white snow rabbit dazed against a tree with Naruto's kunai above its head. "Naruto! You attacked a rabbit!"

"What?" Naruto rushed over and began hugging the rabbit. "Oh, I'm sorry, so sorry! Are you ok? I didn't mean to hurt you blah, blah, blah…"

Sora looked at him incredulously and sweat-dropped.

Tazuna chuckled a little at the absurdity but Sasuke and Kakashi were wary. Hmm…a snow rabbit, here? Kakashi thought as he checked his surroundings. Then… "Everyone down!" he yelled.

"Huh?" Naruto said. Sora pushed him down to the ground just in time for a huge blade to wiz through the air where his head used to be. The blade struck a tree and stayed. Then a laugh.

"So," a voice said. Then a beastly looking man jumped down from his tree and landed on his blade that was stuck in another tree. "I've found you and now you'll die."

Kakashi stood up quickly. This guy's a Jounin level ninja…wait is that? Is he? The man had the forehead protector from the hidden village of the Mist on and his mouth and neck were covered in wrappings. He had short brown hair and an evil look in his eye. "The Demon of the Mist…" he said quietly.

"Oh, so you've heard of me, Kakashi, the copy ninja," the man laughed.

"D-demon?" Naruto said while still crouching on the ground.

"He is known as the Demon of the Mist although he is not a real demon," Kakashi answered never taking his eyes off of the man.

"Why was he given such a title?" Sora asked.

"It's because my hands were already covered in blood by your age," the man said narrowing his eyes at Sora.

"In the past, the hidden village of the Mist's final Chuunin exam was to pit two competitors against each other and let them fight until one dies, but one year, this man, who was just a small boy at the time and not qualified to enter the competition, killed every last competitor without reason or hesitation, and thus he was exiled," Kakashi explained. He pulled up his forehead protector and revealed his Sharingan. "I might have to use this."

A chill went down Sora's spine at the sight of the Sharingan. She remembered it all too well. How powerful is this guy?

How does he have a Sharingan? Sasuke thought. He narrowed his eyes.

"What is that?" Naruto said when he saw Kakashi's left eye.

"It's a special ability that's in one's eyes. It has the power to see through all the techniques and attacks," Sasuke said automatically. But it's a Blood Line Limit ability…only my clan can have it…

"My name is Zabuza, know it well for it's the last name you'll ever hear," the man laughed at them. "Now," He grabbed the handle of the blade and pulled it out of the tree while jumping down. "DIE!" He flew down towards Kakashi and his blade struck the ground. Kakashi had jumped out of the way just in time.

"Guard Tazuna now!" Kakashi yelled at the three Genins as he dodged another attack. The three formed a semicircle around Tazuna facing towards Zabuza and Kakashi with their kunai blades out. Kakashi whipped out his own kunai and then they began clashing metal. They struck over and over again until Zabuza leaped out of the way and onto the lake. Kakashi stood in a fighting stance ready for anything.

"I see your combat skills are as impressive as they say, Copy Ninja," Zabuza said in a mocking voice. "I might actually get some fun out of this."

Kakashi didn't respond but held his blade defensively. Zabuza began making seals with his hands and soon a thick mist rose out of the lake and covered the land. "Mist Concealment Seal. This is why he was called the Demon of the Mist," Kakashi said keeping his Sharingan on the slowly fading figure of Zabuza.

An evil laugh rose through the air. "Now you can't see me." The voice seemed to float through the air on all sides.

Wha…what is this feeling? Sasuke thought. He started to shake. This blood thirsty atmosphere of two Jounins ready to kill… His hand slowly pointed the kunai towards himself. I would rather die than stay here and go insane!

Sora felt Sasuke's tension and saw him point his dagger at himself out of the corner of her eye. She grabbed the wrist of his other hand since it was nearest to her.

"Sasuke," Kakashi said at the same time.

Sasuke snapped out of his trance.

"Do not be afraid, I won't let anyone on my team die," Kakashi said. He turned his head in the slightest bit to smile reassuringly.

Sasuke's fear seemed to disappear at Kakashi's comment. He regained focus and grasped Sora's hand to tell her that he was all right.

"You don't know where I'll attack next…" Zabuza's voice floated in the air.

"Huh!" Kakashi said as the thought struck him. He's going to attack- He rushed towards the group. Zabuza landed right in the middle of the circle but Kakashi tackled him in time. All four of the other people were thrown to the sides. A struggle went on for a few seconds but finally Kakashi sliced through Zabuza.

"All right!" Naruto said. He got up but then, "Huh?" Zabuza turned into water and disappeared. "What?"

"Sensei! Behind you!" Sora yelled. Another Zabuza attacked with his blade at full speed and cut through Kakashi. Sora shut her eyes and clamped her mouth shut to keep from screaming. But when she opened her eyes, Kakashi also turned into water and disappeared.

"What?" Zabuza exclaimed. Then he felt the cold steel of Kakashi's blade against his throat.

"Your time is up," Kakashi said.

"You copied my water clone technique?" Zabuza said in amazement. "Even through the mist…your Sharingan never ceases to amaze me, but you can't win that easily."

"Hm," Kakashi said and sliced Zabuza's throat.

"What?" Naruto yelled. "Anther clone?" Sure enough water came out of this Zabuza as well and disappeared.

Kakashi turned around just in time to block an attack from the real Zabuza but then Zabuza kicked Kakashi hard and he went flying.

Sora gasped. Did Zabuza just kick Kakashi-sensei away?

Zabuza ran at full speed after Kakashi. "That's not the last of it!" he jeered at Kakashi but then he skidded to a full stop. At his feet were many tiny spikes spread on the ground. "Heh, child's play, Kakashi," Zabuza said mockingly. Kakashi landed in the lake. Perfect, Zabuza thought as he leaped towards the lake.

"Sensei!" Naruto yelled.

Kakashi surfaced. "What? This water feels heavy."

"Hahaha! That's because…" Zabuza put his hand above Kakashi and formed a prison of water around him. "This is an impenetrable prison," Zabuza explained. "You are trapped here for now until I get rid of your burden." He eyed the three Genins.

Dammit, Kakashi thought. Zabuza spoke the truth when he said it was impenetrable. "But that also means that you can't move either." Zabuza's hand was holding the water prison together.

"Yes, but he can," Zabuza pointed towards land. The puddles of water from the previous water clones came together to form another water clone of Zabuza.

Oh, no, Kakashi thought. "Run, now!" Kakashi ordered.

"What? And leave you here?" Naruto said. "No way!"

"He's too strong for you! If you get far enough away his water clone won't be able to follow you!" he yelled desperately. "This should have been decided the moment I got captured now go!"

"We can't go," Sasuke said. "The moment you were captured was when our decision had to be that we stay here."

"What?"

"Even if we run away this time, Zabuza will keep pursuing us and we won't have you there when he attacks," Sasuke said. "We don't have a choice but to at least try to fight."

"Yeah!" Naruto agreed.

"Oh? Being brave are you?" Zabuza mocked. Then his clone moved with lightening speed at Sasuke.

"Huh?" Sasuke said but then he was thrown down.

"Sasuke!" Sora screamed.

Zabuza stepped on Sasuke's chest causing him to cough up blood.

"What's the matter? Not so brave anymore?" Zabuza mocked.

"You," Naruto said getting angrier. "Kage Buushin No Jutsu!" 20 Narutos appeared and they rushed at the Zabuza clone.

Kage Buushin No Jutsu? Zabuza thought. His clone was pushed back and was now completely covered in the Narutos. Sasuke was able to sit up as he clutched his chest. But with one huge sweep with his blade, the clone threw all of the Narutos off of himself. The Shadow replications of Naruto disappeared. The clone had also taken the forehead protector off of the real one as well. Zabuza laughed evilly. "You think you're a real ninja if you wear this?" he said. His clone threw it to the ground and stepped on it. "I bet you're not even strong enough to beat my clone who is only 10 percent of my real strength."

Naruto was struggling to get up. Dammit, he's so strong, he thought. How can we win?

Sora took her stance ready to fight. "Don't overestimate yourself," Sora spat bravely. She was about to throw a kunai when-

"Sora! Don't!" Kakashi yelled from within the water prison. "There's no point in fighting now. You've got to run!" She can't fight without losing control, he thought. Sora…don't fight whatever you do!

"Sensei, we have to save you!" Sora urged although she didn't throw the dagger. Why aren't you letting me fight?

"Sora, protect Tazuna," Sasuke said as he stood.

You're not going to let me fight either… Sora thought. But she nodded anyway and went back to Tazuna with her dagger ready.

Naruto took this opportunity to steady himself. He rushed past Sora straight towards the clone. "This fight's not over!"

"There's no point in trying to resist," Zabuza said. His clone kicked Naruto straight on and Naruto went flying and landed hard face down.

"Naruto!" Sora screamed.

Naruto slowly got up shakily. Blood was dripping from his mouth. He wiped it away with the back of his fist and laughed a bit. In his other hand was his forehead protector.

"What?" Zabuza said.

Naruto tied it back on to his head. "Now, the real fight begins!" He rushed at the clone again.

"Naruto, don't!" Kakashi yelled.

"Naruto!" Sora yelled at the same time.

Fool, Sasuke thought.

"Kage Buushin No Jutsu!" Narutos popped up everywhere again. They rushed at the clone and once again covered him. But even though there were more this time, the clone still threw them all off. As the clones began to disappear, Naruto took a blade from his backpack. This is the only way… "Sasuke!" he yelled as he threw the blade at Sasuke.

Sasuke caught it. I see, Naruto, he thought as he looked the blade over. Not a bad plan considering it came from you. "Fuuma shuriken," Sasuke said dangerously. The blade opened up into four curved blades creating a sort of cross shaped windmill. He jumped into the air and made some seals to enhance his strength in his arms. "Hah!" he yelled as he threw it.

"Child's play," Zabuza said. His clone easily dodged it. The blade kept going…straight towards the real Zabuza. "Huh?" He kept his hand in the water prison and jumped up to avoid being hit. "So, you were aiming for the real me this time huh? It's still not good enough."

"THINK AGAIN!" Naruto's voice said from behind Zabuza.

"What?" Zabuza turned his head. The blade had turned into Naruto. No, Naruto was holding the blade. How?

"Sensei!" Naruto yelled as he threw the blade at Zabuza. Zabuza didn't have time enough to dodge it completely. He let go of the prison but he caught the weapon. Naruto landed in the water. Kakashi was freed.

"Why you!" Zabuza was about to slice through Naruto but Kakashi blocked it. The blade clashed with his hand guard. Zabuza did not let go. Blood began to flow from under Kakashi's glove from the impact.

"Now, you're time is over," Kakashi said with malice in his voice.

"Hah, that's what you think. I let you go so I could have some more fun fighting," Zabuza bluffed.

"That's not true, you were forced to let me go," Kakashi said.

"Hey, it actually worked!" Naruto said.

"Naruto, I'm impressed with your strategy," Kakashi said.

"What…what happened?" Tazuna said.

"While he still had some of his Shadow clones left, he left one just long enough so that he could transform into a blade. Then he threw himself over to me," Sasuke explained. "Once, I caught him, I immediately recognized him and figured out his plan from there. Through the Fuuma shuriken, I got out my own blade and created an illusion that there was only one. I threw both the blade and Naruto as he hid in the shadow of the real blade. Once behind the real Zabuza, Naruto transformed back, grabbed the real blade, and was able to surprise Zabuza enough to release Kakashi."

"Ingenious!" Tazuna exclaimed.

They work so well together even though they're rivals, Sora thought.

Zabuza glared at Kakashi. Then he closed the four blades into one on Kakashi's hand, pressing the cracked hand guard deeper into Kakashi's fist. "I'm not finished yet." The two Jounins threw each other backwards and both took stances on the water's surface.

"I didn't think you were," Kakashi said calmly.

Zabuza ignored him and ran at him with his enormous blade. Kakashi blocked with his kunai. Metal clashing against metal rang through the air. Finally Zabuza stopped attack and began to form seals. Kakashi did the same. What? He knows my seal? Zabuza thought. They ended the formations at the same time. "Dragon of Water!" they said in unison. Two jets of water shot out from the lake in the shape of dragons. They began to attack each other forming a sort of water cage around the two Jounins. How? Zabuza thought. His Sharingan can only copy attacks…no his Sharingan can... The expression on Zabuza's face told Kakashi that he was beginning to slip. Zabuza made a seal and Kakashi moved perfectly along with him at the same time. It was almost like watching a mirror. Zabuza's eyes widened. "You…can't…it's not possible…"

Kakashi didn't say anything but watched him intently with his Sharingan.

Zabuza got angrier. "Heh, don't mock me," he said.

"You're only a copying monkey!" they both said at the same time.

Zabuza gasped. What? He knows what I'm going to say? His mental state began to deteriorate.

Kakashi quickly made more seals and yelled, "Rushing Water Barrier!"

A huge wall of water came rushing at Zabuza. The current was so strong it swept him clear off his feet and onto land. He was sucked under. That was the attack I was going to use, Zabuza thought frantically. Naruto was also caught up in the current but he was not in the direct path and was able to grab onto the shore. Zabuza was thrown hard against a huge tree. The water drained quickly while he was still dazed. Then three kunai blades came and stabbed through his arms and right leg pinning him to the tree. He couldn't move. Kakashi was on a branch in the tree next to him. Zabuza looked up. "Can you see the future?" he asked his voice full of fear.

"You are going to die," Kakashi said ignoring the question. He flipped his blade and got ready to throw it. But two long needles came out of nowhere and stabbed Zabuza in the neck. Zabuza's body went limp. "Huh?" Kakashi said as he looked for the source.

A masked person jumped down from his hiding place in a tree. It was a white mask with strange markings on it and he had long black hair. "Thank you," the person said.

"Huh?" Naruto said. Who is this guy?

"I've been trying to get the exile for quite some time now and I couldn't resist this opportunity," he continued.

Judging from his voice, he can't be much older than us, Sora thought.

Kakashi jumped down as well. "You're one of the Hunter-Nins, correct?" Kakashi said.

"Yes," the boy responded.

Kakashi walked over to Zabuza's body and unhooked him from the tree. He then felt Zabuza's neck for a pulse and found none. "He's dead."

"What? How can you just kill such a powerful ninja?" Naruto yelled angrily.

The boy ignored Naruto and turned to Kakashi. "You must excuse my briefness but I must go and dispose of the body, it holds too many secrets," he said.

"Of course," Kakashi said as he put away his kunai.

The boy came over to the body and hoisted it on his shoulder. "Thank you again," he said. Then he formed a seal and disappeared through a veil of screeching wind.

"Wait!" Naruto yelled. He ran up to the spot where the Nin disappeared. He was fuming. The Nin was gone. "No," he said as he fell to his knees. "Dammit, dammit, dammit!" he swore. With every word he punched the ground as hard as he could. His knuckles began to bleed. "How can he be so strong? We don't even measure up to him! We had such a hard time with Zabuza and he could just kill him so easily?" Naruto ranted. Sasuke thought the same but hid his feelings.

Kakashi caught Naruto's fist before it came down again. "Naruto, this is a fact of life," he said calmly. He let go of Naruto's hand and it dropped to the ground. "There are some people in this world who are just more talented in the art of the ninja." He covered his Sharingan and looked to the sky. "There are some who are younger than you," he continued, "with greater Chakra than me."

Sasuke's eyes widened. I've been stuck in Konoha and there's so many more powerful people out there… He became angry.

Sora looked at the three from a distance. She was still with Tazuna. She had seen the Nin and felt Naruto and Sasuke's distress. She had had experiences with those geniuses of the ninja art. She knew about the powerful anomalies in the different places that she had gone to. She did not think of herself in this way but her powers, her real strength, also put her into the category of a genius herself. But I shall never use them, she thought. I can't control my own powers and in that way I am weak. She looked down. I understand, Naruto. I've been through so many situations where if I could've used my real powers, I wouldn't have had to suffer through so much, but I couldn't. I see others going to their maximum and keeping perfect control over their bodies…and I'm jealous…

"Well," Kakashi broke the silence. "We should probably get going otherwise we'll never get their." He took a step. Pain shot through his entire body. He was paralyzed and started to fall to the ground.

"Sensei!" Sora exclaimed and ran to him as fast as she could. She slowed his fall and he slumped over on her lap.

Sora? Kakashi's eyes closed.

"What…what happened to him?" Naruto asked.

"I don't know," Sora said. She knew he was still breathing at least.

"He must have worn himself out by using his Sharingan too much," Sasuke said matter-of-factly. "If you put your body through too much stress from your Chakra, it will collapse and you might actually die."

Really? Sora thought.

"We've got to get him to my house as soon as possible then," Tazuna said in a hurry. "Who knows who else that Gatou might send."

Sora nodded her head in agreement and the guys carried Kakashi as fast as they could the rest of the way to Tazuna's house.

It was morning the next day when Kakashi finally woke up. Where…we must be in Tazuna's house, he thought as he opened his eyes for the first time. I hope everyone's okay. He tried to sit up but felt a stab of pain through his body and collapsed back on the mattress. Then the door slid open showing Sora coming in with fresh bandages. She didn't see that he was awake. "Sora?"

Sora started and almost dropped the bandages. "Sensei!" She blushed from slight embarrassment. "You're awake!" She knelt down beside him. "How are you feeling?" She saw the blanket was only covering his lower half. "Did you try to get up?" she asked in alarm. "You shouldn't do that! You could kill yourself if you overexert your body! Don't scare us like that-"

"Sora!" Kakashi finally said. "I'm fine, really." He looked straight at her to calm her down. "Just calm down."

Sora sighed. "Give me your hand," she said after shaking her head.

She is cute, Kakashi smiled to himself. He lifted his hand.

Sora removed the old bandages and proceeded to wrap his hand with the fresh ones. "Sensei, you really did have me worried…" she trailed. She didn't look at his face but concentrated hard on his hand.

Kakashi liked the feeling of her delicate hands touching his calloused skin. He looked at her worried face. "Hm…"

"What?"

"Huh? Nothing," he said with a smile then he felt her remove her hands. She was done wrapping. Disappointment washed over his face. He looked at his hand.

"I'll go get the others," Sora said standing up with the old bandages in her hand. "Don't try and get up, ok?" He's just like a big kid… She sighed.

Kakashi laughed. "Sure." Sora left and closed the door behind her. Then a thought hit Kakashi. Hm… he thought. Something's not right. He thought back on his battle with Zabuza. That Nin…it's strange… He heard pounding footsteps in the hallway outside the door.

The door whipped open and Naruto ran in. "Sensei! You're finally awake!" Naruto almost shouted.

"Naruto!" Sora said exasperated. Sasuke came in quietly after and then Tazuna and a woman.

Kakashi tried to sit up again and succeeded. "Why, hello," he said to the woman.

"Sensei, you really shouldn't move," the woman said. "You need to regain your strength."

"Of course," Kakashi said.

"Oh, Sensei," Naruto said. "This is Tazuna-sama's sister, Tsunami-sama."

He nodded his head.

"Thank you, though for saving Tazuna," Tsunami said. "Who knows what would've happened to him if it weren't for you and your team. I'm sorry it was so troublesome."

"Not at all," Kakashi said. "But…" He trailed off. Zabuza…

"Sensei?" Naruto said. "What's wrong? Zabuza's dead right so there's nothing to be worried about right?"

"Hmm…no," Kakashi said with certainty. "Zabuza is still alive."

Everyone gasped. "But, that Nin," Sora said. "He killed Zabuza didn't he? You checked him yourself."

"Yes, but a number of things are very strange," Kakashi said.

"Like what?" Naruto and Sora said at the same time.

"First, the Nin used very acute weapons that have a low fatality rate, the needles," he explained. "Only a very precise hit could kill a person with those weapons and it is very likely that the Nin only put Zabuza into a near death state. Secondly, the Nin also took Zabuza's body away to destroy it even though you usually destroy the body on the spot and Zabuza's body was a lot heavier than the Nin himself. You only need to bring back the head as proof."

"Maybe you're thinking too much about it," Tsunami said worriedly.

"I don't think so," Kakashi said. "Once a ninja has a bad feeling, he must react on it quickly or else it might be too late. Zabuza is still alive."

Sasuke knew it to be true as well. "We can't defeat him again in this state," he said calmly.

"You're right," Kakashi said. "I'm going to have to put you guys through some training to get you ready to fight. We've got to start today." He attempted to get up but failed.

"Sensei, you can't, you're still injured!" Sora said kneeling next to him and putting her hand on his arm.

"Sora, don't worry. Once I get up I'll be fine. Now help me," he said covering her hand with his.

Sora sighed. Why is he so stubborn? She glanced at Naruto and Sasuke.

"All right! I'm going to beat you in training this time, Sasuke!" Naruto was yelling at Sasuke. Sasuke had his eyes closed apparently not listening.

Why are they so stubborn? "Fine…" she said still not totally convinced that Kakashi would be ok. She took Kakashi's arm and wrapped it around her shoulders and used some Chakra to lift him up to his feet. He was shaky at first so Sora kept his arm around her to steady him. "You've got to at least use crutches," Sora said.

"We have some downstairs," Tsunami said. "I'll go get them."

"All right," Kakashi agreed. Maybe I'm not as ok as I thought I was…

Then a young boy entered. "Inari!" Tazuna said.

"Who are they?" Inari asked bluntly.

"They're the ninjas I hired," Tazuna said cautiously. "Uh, meet my nephew, Inari," he said to the group.

"Hello," Sora said smiling. The others nodded.

"It doesn't matter if you train or whatever, you know, cuz it won't make a difference," the boy said frowning.

"Inari!" Tazuna exclaimed.

"No matter how strong you are, Gatou's always going to hire more and more ninjas to fight for him so why don't you just go home?" With that Inari stomped out of the room.

"Geez, what's his problem?" Naruto asked getting angry.

"Don't mind him," Tazuna said quietly. "He's been like that ever since Kaiza was killed by Gatou's men."

"Kaiza?" Naruto asked.

"He was Inari's step father," Tazuna said. "But, I'll tell you about that later, you've got to go and train now right?"

"Uh, right," Naruto said. He looked to the door. Strange kid, he thought.

After a few more minutes the three Genins and Kakashi were out in the forested area near the town where Tazuna lived. "So what kind of training is it?" Naruto said excitedly. "Is it some powerful new technique? Or maybe it's some new strategy, huh?"

"No," Kakashi said happily. "I'm going to train you in the basics of Chakra so that you can use your Chakra to its full extent and your attacks will be better in general."

"What? We can already use our Chakra," Naruto complained. "Why do we need to learn the boring stuff?"

Kakashi sighed. "Sora, if you may?"

Sora faced the two boys. "Knowing the basics of Chakra helps to control it," she said. She pulled out a scroll that held pictures and explanations. "Now listen up cuz I'm going to explain quickly, ok?" She unrolled it and held it up for them to see. "First, Chakra as you know is the spirit energy in our bodies. In order to form attacks, you must combine the Chakra with your body energy and mold it into the different elemental attacks. Different elements require different ratios of Chakra to body energy. In order to use the minimum Chakra for the maximum output, you must control how much Chakra you use, where in your body you use it, and how much you mold it together with your body energy. Every person has a certain amount of Chakra but it needs to be trained and brought out little by little with bodily exercise and practice of the usage of Chakra. Using too much or too little Chakra for an attack will lessen the strength of the attack and waste energy as well." She snapped up the scroll and smiled.

"Yeah, yeah," Naruto said waving his hand. "It's not like we actually need to know that stuff in order to use it."

"It is true that we can use Chakra attacks without the knowledge behind it," Sasuke added more to himself than for the good of the group.

Sora just smiled and shook her head.

"Ok then," Kakashi said. "This exercise is just using your Chakra and stationing it in your feet. They say that Chakra is hardest to maintain when put at the feet. Then you have to climb a tree."

"Climb a tree?" Naruto said.

"Yes, without your hands. Just your Chakra in your feet," Kakashi said. "Like so." Using his crutches he walked slowly over to the nearest tree and focused his energy in his feet. Then he walked right up the trunk of the tree, still using his crutches.

"Wow!" Naruto said. "That looks easy."

"Be careful," Sora said as she saw Naruto concentrating his Chakra in his feet.

"Easy!" Naruto said.

Kakashi was standing upside down on a branch of a tree way up high. "Give yourselves a running start since this is your first time."

"Here I go!" Naruto yelled as he ran full speed at the tree. "AHHHH!" He ran two steps up the tree and fell back to the ground landing on him back. "Dammit…" he cursed sitting up and rubbing his head.

Sasuke concentrated his Chakra and ran to the tree next to Naruto's. He made it ten steps up then his foot cracked into the tree. I see, so if you overuse your Chakra… He flipped backwards and landed safely on the ground. But if you use too little… He looked at Naruto rubbing his head.

"Hey guys!" Sora called from another tree. "Up here!" She sat on a very high branch waving at them.

"What?" Naruto yelled in disbelief. "How did you...? You couldn't have…? Grrr…"

She is adept at using her Chakra, Sasuke thought. She's even stronger than I thought. He couldn't help but feel a little jealous.

"I guess the know-how is important," Sora said smiling cutely. She walked over to the edge of the branch and jumped onto the side of the trunk of the tree Kakashi was standing on. She continued to jump back and forth towards the ground in a graceful and easy manner. She landed with one knee on the ground with no sign of tiredness.

"Oh-ho!" Kakashi said. "It looks like Sora is the closest to becoming Hokage now and maybe the Uchiha clan isn't as great as I thought it was."

"Hey!" Naruto yelled. "You blah, blah, blah…"

Sasuke cringed and kept his mouth shut but clenched his fist.

"Sensei!" Sora said looking a little worried at the two boys. I hope they don't hate me now. She shot a glare at Kakashi who just shrugged and smiled mischievously.

"Before you do it again, use these kunai blades to mark where you can go up to and each time, make a new mark. Hopefully every time you do it, your next mark will be higher than your last mark," Kakashi said as he threw down the three blades.

Each Genin picked up a kunai and concentrated on their Chakra again. Then they took off. Sora got all the way to the top of her tree and balanced herself in the swaying wind. She could see over the forest roof and over to the town where the bridge was being built. Wow, what a view! she thought. I wonder how the others are doing. She jumped down to a lower branch and saw that Sasuke had taken 13 steps this time. Naruto had only taken 5. They're not concentrating on their own progress…they're getting distracted by each other, she sighed. She jumped from branch to branch to get lower and lower until she finally just jumped to the ground again.

Kakashi was also on the ground as well. He walked up to Sora. "Sora."

"Yes, Sensei?"

"I'm guessing you've already been trained in these sorts of exercises and are an excellent manager of your Chakra," Kakashi said.

"Well, I have done similar exercises before," Sora said looking towards the two boys. Naruto was on the ground swearing and Sasuke was beginning to breathe a little harder.

Kakashi turned towards them. "You two keep going until you reach the fifth branch," he instructed them.

I can't let Sasuke win! Naruto thought. He jumped up and put his hands together to concentrate on his Chakra.

Fifth branch? Sasuke thought. Why am I so bad at this? I can't let Naruto get any closer. He concentrated on his Chakra as well.

"Now Sora," Kakashi said turning back to her. "I'm going to make you go through some special training now."

"Special?" she asked.

"Yes," he said. "Let's walk." He began to walk deeper into the forest.

Sora looked after him. What training? She followed.

After they were out of earshot from Naruto and Sasuke, Kakashi began. "Sora, I've noticed that when you are in training, you are able to control your powers and use them to perfection." Sora's eyes widened. "But when you are in a real battle, you hold back and almost refuse to fight at all. It's almost as if you're afraid of your own power."

How does he know? she thought in fear.

"You might not remember this fight but I watched when you trained with Naruto," Kakashi continued. "There was a snake and for some reason your powers got out of your control." I won't mention your slight transformation… He could see the fear and anxiety in her eyes. "You must get over this fear, this handicap. You've got to learn how to control this power of yours."

"I…never had a problem with this before," she said quietly. But then again, I've never really fought anyone before…

"Before?"

"The last time I remember having a black out and then nightmares following was when I was very young…" She was unknowingly thinking about the time when her adopted father allowed her to fight the beast that was attacking her village. "I don't even know what happened. Now these black outs are coming more and more often ever since I came to Konoha."

Hm… Kakashi thought. "Nevertheless you must learn to control it," he said. He quietly made a clone of himself come from behind Sora.

Sora's eyes widened as she sensed the clone's presence. She dodged a brutal slash from the clone's kunai. "Sensei?"

"Fight as if your life depended on it!" he ordered her.

"What?" she said in alarm as she dodged another attack. The clone slashed through a tree and it fell to the ground with a crash.

"Don't dodge, fight!" Kakashi said. He was controlling his clone's every move. The clone ran forward and threw two star knives at Sora. She retaliated by throwing two of her own. They clashed and fell to the ground in front of Sora, but Kakashi's had smoke tags on them and a thick cloud of smoke erupted from the tags. Sora couldn't see.

What is he thinking? Sora thought as she got out her kunai for defense. Then the clone came out of no where taking Sora by surprise. "What?" She was barely able to dodge the lightening fast attack. Her sleeve was shredded but she was unharmed. Too close, she thought. He's really serious about the life depended on it thing…fine I just have to-wait! What if…? But this is part of the training! No! It's too dangerous. I've got to get out of this smoke.

She leaped as high as she could into the air but she sensed the clone nearby. Then their blades met. Sora had blocked another brutal attack by the clone. She jumped onto a tree branch out of the smoke's range. Where? She crouched on the tree branch ready for anything. Then, "Hah!" she jumped down onto the tree truck and ran up the trunk with just her feet. The clone had cut through the entire branch that Sora was on and it went crashing down to the ground. The clone then jumped to the tree nearest to Sora's and went running up the trunk after her. Sora skidded to a halt. It's the only way! The clone also skidded to a stop. They jumped from their trees and clashed blades in the air then each landed on the opposite tree. They both quickly turned around and repeated the action. All of this was happening faster than the eye can see.

What kind of clone is this? Sora thought as she clashed again and again. It's too strong to be a Shadow replication…even a Water clone… Then Sora got the idea to change the situation. She conjured up some Chakra blew a powerful gust of icy wind at the clone on the next clash. She allowed herself to land on the ground. I missed! The clone was nowhere to be seen.

Then she saw a fireball coming straight at her. "Ah!" She dodged it but then she saw star knives coming from all directions. She made an energy shield to protect herself since she saw the exploding tags on the knives. The knives hit and exploded. The ground beneath her feet collapsed from the shock and Sora was taken under. Shoot! I'm trapped! She saw that she was going to lose if she didn't think of something fast.

"Sora, I know you're holding back," came Kakashi's voice from somewhere above her.

I can't… Sora thought. There's got to be another way out of this!

I need to make this harder, the real Kakashi thought as he watched from a distance. He made 9 other clones using up most of his Chakra. These clones take up so much energy, he thought as he panted a bit. But I've got to get used to it. The nine other clones jumped into the dust and smoke.

Sora was in the ground waiting. He'll find me sooner or later, she thought. I've got to think of something. Then she felt the ground shake around her. He's found me! A hand grasped her shoulder. She winced in pain and felt herself being pulled up from the ground. She focused her energy and made the dirt swirl violently around her. The hand let go but she was exposed. She got out three star knives and stood still waiting for the dust to settle. The she saw them. One, two, three…ten! She was surrounded.

"Sora," the real Kakashi called. "Don't hold back. If you're afraid then you won't be able to survive this."

"What?" The ten clones of Kakashi all began forming the same seals simultaneously. What is that? They finished and then extended their arms forward with their hands in a binding seal.

"Prison of Vines!" they said in unison. Their hands began to glow as vines shot out from them. They were enclosing her inside. There was no escape.

What? I know this attack! I can't believe Kakashi-sensei can do this! Sora thought. These vines have poisonous needles…one hit and I'm dead. "What are you trying to do?" she yelled angrily. "KILL ME?"

Sort of, Kakashi thought. He chuckled. I have confidence in your will to survive, Sora. You won't die. I just want to see your true power.

"Shoot," Sora said as the vines closed in on her.

"Attack!" Sora heard the Kakashis say.

"Dammit…" Sora said under her breath as the vines began to swell. Then they shot their needles from all directions straight at Sora. He is trying to kill me! Then she felt a presence.

"Sora, let me out…"

"Who's there?" she said. She looked around herself and found that she was standing in a swirling mass of darkness. "Where am I?" Then she saw a shadow approaching her.

"Sora," the shadow said. "You don't have a choice now, do you?"

An evil laugh filled her mind. "No, stop! You...I can't let you out! My promise…"

"Screw your promise!" the shadow screamed at her. "Do you want to die now? In training?"

Sora clutched her head. The scream was so piercing. She felt her mind shake and her ears ring. "Who are you? Why are you inside of me?"

"I…am you," the shadow said. Then it transformed into a mirror image of Sora except this one looked purely evil. "Your will is stronger than I thought it would be when I created you."

"Created?"

"I've been trapped in here for who knows how long-"

"But-"

"But I've already set my plan into motion by bringing that Uchiha into the picture-"

"Huh?" Sasuke?

The shadow laughed. That same evil laugh. "No." Then she ran at Sora.

Sora couldn't retaliate. "NO!"

Kakashi saw Sora's eyes open in a flash of silver. It's begun.

Sora raised a hand and stopped all the needles in midair. They dropped to the ground. Then she lowered that same hand and held it out palm up. A silver fire formed.

She's not even forming seals. This…this isn't Chakra…it must be some other form of energy, Kakashi thought. Where is she getting this?

Sora closed her hand and the flame shot out in five directions at the vines. The vines were immediately disintegrated and their ashes fell to the ground. Sora kept her hand closed and the five silver flames each split once and engulfed each of the ten Kakashi clones. They disappeared in a flash of lightening.

The dust settled and the real Kakashi saw Sora still standing there but with her hands to her sides. Her hair had streaks of silver in it and her eyes glowed. "Now, it's your turn."

Kakashi's eyes widened. "Sora?" He saw her face him. This…intent to kill? I might have gone too far.

"Now it's his turn," the evil voice said to Sora.

"No!" Sora said weakly. She was exhausted from the ongoing inner battle she was having with her clone but now she was being held down by her other self and couldn't move. Her body was covered in gashes and bruises. Blood was everywhere.

The evil Sora turned towards her. "You think you can stop me?"

Sora clenched her teeth. "If you're so powerful, then why don't you just kill me and take over completely?"

It was the evil one's turn to clench her teeth. She narrowed her eyes. I don't have the power to yet…she thought to herself. That boy needs to go faster…she might get too strong for me to be freed…

"I will stop you!" Sora said. She used what felt like her remaining energy send a pulse of Chakra outwards from her body. It was just strong enough to push her clone back. Sora stumbled to get up but then immediately ran at her clone while forming a seal. "Got ya!"

"What?" the shadow said. Where did she get this power?

Sora thrust her seal she had made into the chest of her shadow aimed for the heart.

"NOOOO!" she screamed.

The noise pierced through Sora's head. It took everything she had to not remove her hands to cover her ears. The sound caused a powerful force to fly back at Sora and it started cutting her skin even more. "Ahhh!" she yelled in frustration but refused to let go.

On the outside, Kakashi watched closely but was ready for anything. He saw Sora's eyes glaze over then she screamed and fell to the ground and was motionless. "Sora!" Kakashi abandoned all caution and hobbled as fast as his crutches would allow over to Sora's still body.

Sora! Sora heard Kakashi call her name.

"Kakashi?" She was even more determined to finish her seal. Sensei!

"Where? Where are you getting this power?" the shadow gasped as it turned back into its formless state again.

"You," Sora snarled. "You didn't make me! You don't control me and here's the proof!" She used all of her remaining energy to spread her seal throughout the shadow's body.

"AHHHH!" the shadow screamed as it melted into the abyss.

Sora closed her eyes and felt her surroundings change. She felt the warmth of someone close to her.

Kakashi watched as her hair turned back to its normal red but he also saw numerous wounds appear all over her body. She moved slightly. "Sora!" he said as more injuries appeared. "What happened?" he asked himself out loud.

Then Sora shot up gasping for air. She turned to the side and coughed up some blood. I can't breathe! The blood was choking her.

"Sora!" Kakashi held her up. He used a knife to cut through the back of Sora's already tattered outfit. Her bare back was exposed with lashes and cuts all across it. He took off his glove and put his bare hand on her back. He focused his energy and let a small portion of his remaining Chakra flow into Sora as strength.

Sora calmed down as she felt new strength enter her body. "Kakashi-sensei?"

I see now, Kakashi thought as he pulled Sora back towards him and wrapped his arms around her from behind. Sora was still breathing pretty hard. "It is too dangerous for now, Sora."

Sora couldn't help but lean her head back on Kakashi's chest.

"You must promise me that you won't fight no matter what," he said seriously. Even if it means that one of us dies…it's too dangerous. That energy I felt, it's not human.

"I…" she couldn't speak.

Kakashi picked her up. "I need to get you back to the house now to treat your wounds." He used all of his remaining Chakra to transport himself and Sora to the house. He could hardly stand because his strength was almost all gone but he knocked on the door and Tazuna answered.

"O my god!" Tazuna exclaimed as he saw the two of them. "What happened?"

"I'll tell you later but now we've got to treat Sora's wounds," Kakashi said as Tazuna took Sora from him. He stumbled into the house and just barely made it to a chair.

"I'll go get Tsunami," Tazuna said hurriedly as he put Sora on the couch.

The day past and the boys still hadn't come home. Tsunami had taken care of Sora's wounds and they were all bandaged now. Her arms were wrapped as were her legs. The only scratch she had on her face was on her left cheek so when she put on her ninja dress, it didn't look like she had too many injuries. Amazingly Sora could walk and was pretty much normal. She walked into the kitchen where she heard someone cooking.

"It's been so long since we've had guests over for dinner," Tsunami said to herself. "It's nice." She noticed Sora. "Oh, Sora, how are you doing?"

"Oh, I'm fine," Sora said as she walked up to her. "Where did Sensei go?"

"He went out," Tsunami said. "He's pretty stubborn. I told him not to go but he refused to listen." She sighed. "Tazuna also went out."

"Oh," Sora said. The boys weren't back yet and Inari was nowhere to be found. "Can I help you?"

"Oh, no thank you," Tsunami said smiling. "You should be resting. It looks like you had enough work for today."

Sora smiled hesitantly. Where is everyone else?

Naruto and Sasuke were still trying to climb the trees. Sasuke had gotten to the third branch while Naruto had only gotten half way past the second. Both were tiring and dirty. "Dammit! Why is this so hard?" Naruto complained.

Sasuke said nothing. He's catching up… He wiped his mouth. I've got to get better! He concentrated on his Chakra again.

Naruto saw him. Again? He immediately got up and focused as well. Well if he's going for it, I can't wimp out now!

Both of their eyes shot open and they ran forward at the same time. "AHH!" they both shouted at the top of their lungs as they ran up the tree trunks. Upon almost reaching the third branch, Naruto lost his footing and began to fall. SHOOT! He made his mark and fell to the ground but landed on his feet.

Sasuke kept going and made it one step higher than he did the previous time. He made a mark and landed safely on the ground next to Naruto. I'm tiring…and he's getting closer every time. How much stamina does he have?

Naruto caught Sasuke staring at him. Their eyes met and locked into an electric stare. I won't lose to him! they both mentally yelled. They jumped up and started again.

The sun had set and the moon shone through the night sky. Kakashi and Tazuna had come home from working on the bridge. "How are you feeling, Sora? You looked like you were gonna die back there," Tazuna said with a worried expression on his face.

"Oh, I'm fine, thank you," she answered and smiled at this comment. "Dinner is ready for everyone now."

"Uh, yes, dinner," Tazuna said. "I'll go wash up then." He left Kakashi and Sora alone in the room.

Sora looked down.

"Sora," Kakashi said. "I'm sorry that I put you through that." He walked up to her without his crutches and lifted her head.

Sora looked into his visible eye. "Sensei?" she began.

"Yes?"

"I…I'm not strong enough," she said.

"No-"

"Yes, listen," she interrupted. "I can't even fight on this mission and…I'm just a burden." She turned her head and began to walk away.

"Sora," Kakashi said.

She stopped but didn't turn around.

"You aren't weak," Kakashi said. "and you're not a burden. I see now the kind of power you have within you. It's not normal Chakra that's for sure but it affects your mental state when exposed to a battle. You can control it but then something like what happened today would happen again and…I can't let that happen to you."

Sora bit her lip.

"Promise me, that you won't fight on this mission," Kakashi said. "I swear I will protect you and everyone here with my life."

She nodded unable to speak without crying then left.

I swear, Kakashi repeated to himself.

Two empty seats were kept for Naruto and Sasuke when they returned for dinner. Inari was there but he didn't say anything to anyone. The adults were talking leaving Sora to her thoughts. I can't let Naruto and Sasuke know, she decided. Act normally when they come…act normally.

Naruto and Sasuke had finally both reached the fifth branch and both were completely out of breath but they refused to move until the other did. Finally after looking at the moon, Sasuke spoke. "Let's get back."

Naruto smiled and nodded in agreement. They had to support each other as they walked back to the house but they finally made it. They opened the door and walked in dirty and panting.

"Naruto, Sasuke!" Sora said standing up.

They two boys fell backwards from exhaustion.

Kakashi looked over. "It looks like you finally made it to the fifth branch," he said in his normal lazy way. "Come eat a bit so you can regain your strength."

Naruto looked up smiling. "I've been waiting all day for dinner!" He jumped up with amazing energy and sat in his seat next to Sora who was on the end of the table. Sasuke got up and sat on the other side of Sora opposite to Naruto and they began chomping down food as fast as they could.

Sora looked at the two in disgust. "You should really eat slower…"

Then they both stood up and held up their bowls. "SECONDS!" they both said. Then they sat down suddenly and turned from the table to throw up.

Sora put down her spoon. "If you two are just going to throw up your food then you shouldn't eat at all!"

"No," Sasuke said as he wiped his mouth. "I'll eat."

"Yeah," Naruto said doing the same.

Sora sighed. "I don't get you two…"

After they were finished eating, Tsunami made some tea and they sat at the table talking. Finally they got on the subject of the situation of the small island village. "The people here are so poor and Gatou is stopping our economy in its tracks," Tazuna said. "It hasn't always been like this though. This village was once a great flourishing village, but after Kaiza was killed-"

Inari immediately got up and left. "Inari," Tsunami said standing up immediately. "Inari! Tazuna, I told you not to talk about him in front of Inari!" She left the room following Inari.

"So, what happened?" Kakashi asked.

Tazuna sighed. "Kaiza wasn't Inari's real father," he began. "After Inari's real father died, he got really attached to Kaiza. He began to follow him around everywhere and do whatever he did. Kaiza was a wandering fellow before he settled here. Strong, kind, smart, and he cared about everyone. Tsunami married Kaiza and Inari immediately accepted him as his father. Kaiza was sort of the hero of this village and everyone looked up to him while Inari…well, I guess you could say he made Kaiza his hero. Then Gatou came along and found out about him and how he was the village's stronghold and hope. Kaiza spoke out against Gatou openly and Gatou used this to arrest him. His men tortured Kaiza in front of the public and killed him." Tears began to form in Tazuna's eyes. "Inari lost all hope after that," he continued. "I guess he thinks that if Kaiza couldn't defeat Gatou's men, then no one can. The village lost hope too and the people became desolate after Kaiza's death. Now this bridge is our only hope but Gatou is intent on stopping it." He clenched his fist and slammed it on the table. "I want to complete this bridge and restore this island to what it once was. The people need a hero and Kaiza was that hero, but now that he's gone…" He shut his eyes tightly trying to hold back tears.

"I see," Kakashi said.

Hm… Naruto thought. Tsunami came back in the room with a helpless look on her face. She silently began to wash the dishes again. I'll go see what's up, Naruto decided. He got up and went towards the door.

"Naruto?" Sora questioned.

"Hm? Oh, I'm just gonna go to bed now," he lied. "See ya in the morning." He left.

Sora sighed and looked over at Kakashi who didn't seem to notice Naruto's behavior. I hope he doesn't do anything too brash, she thought.

Naruto went up the stairs towards Inari's room. He heard crying.

"Father…" Inari's voice came through. Naruto heard him choke up with tears. He peeked through the crack in the door and saw Inari sitting on his window sill holding a picture of Kaiza. The tears were flowing freely down his face.

Naruto looked away and went into his own room to sleep.

When morning came, Naruto woke up unusually early to train before anyone else. I'm going to beat Sasuke today! he thought as he dressed quickly. He ran out of the still quiet house and into the woods. The sun was just beginning to rise and the moon was still shining brightly. He reached the clearing he and Sasuke had been training in the day before and looked up at the trees. "I will reach the top today!" he said out loud. He stretched and did a few warm ups and then he focused his Chakra.

A few hours later, Naruto was still training but he was being watched by Inari. Why does he do this? He can't beat Gatou no matter how hard he tries. He should just give up! He looked at Naruto angrily. He's not a very good ninja to begin with either. Inari turned and began to walk away but,

"Hey!" Naruto said suddenly noticing Inari's presence.

Inari froze.

"What are you doing here so early?" Naruto asked.

Inari turned around. "Me? What are you doing here so early?" he lashed out. "Why are you training when you know that you can't beat Gatou's men? Why do you do this to yourself?"

Naruto looked at him angrily. "Cuz I'm not a quitter, that's why!" he said. "I don't just hide my problems behind a sour face and a bad attitude. I don't go to my room and cry cuz I can't help myself. I'm past that and I'll never give up becoming Hokage ever! I believe in myself."

"Looking at you makes me sick!" Inari yelled. "You'll never become Hokage!" He turned and ran away crying.

"Hm," Naruto said. He didn't care what that kid felt about him. "I'm past that…" he repeated to himself. He focused and began to train again.

Sora woke up feeling sore all over her body. She could hardly move. Shoot, she thought. How am I going to get up? She tried shifting to her side but her body wouldn't move. Come on! she yelled at herself. They're going to definitely notice if I don't come down for breakfast. She tried to conjure some Chakra but couldn't. Her body would not work no matter how hard she tried. Then she heard footsteps in the hall. They stopped at her door. Dammit! Could this day start any worse?

"Hey, Sora," Sasuke called from the other side of the door.

"Uh, yeah, hold on a sec," Sora called. Come on, come on! She finally was able to shift to her side. Now if I could just slip off…

"Are you ok in there?" Sasuke asked.

"Yeah! Just a moment," Sora said. Her feet touched the ground and she stood up wobbling as she gripped her bed post. She was panting but she forced herself to walk to the door. She slid it open just enough for her head to get through. "Yes?" she said trying to make herself sound normal even though she was sweating and panting.

"Uh," Sasuke said surprised to see her in that state. "They sent me up to get you for breakfast."

"Oh, uh, thank you," Sora said beginning to close the door.

"Are you really ok?" Sasuke asked again stopping the door.

"Yes, I'm fine," Sora lied with a smile. I'm such a bad liar. By the expression on Sasuke's face, Sora knew he didn't buy it."I, uh, I'm just a little bit sore from yesterday's training, that's all," Sora added quickly. Please go away…

"A little bit sore," Sasuke repeated slowly with a raised eyebrow.

"I'll be down in just a-" She cut herself off just when her legs gave way from under her.

Sasuke threw open the door and caught her before she hit the ground. "A little bit sore, huh?" he said again.

Sora turned red with embarrassment. She couldn't say anything.

"Uh-huh," Sasuke mused as he picked her up. He noticed the bandages on her arms and legs. "What did Kakashi do to you yesterday?"

"Nothing more than what he did to you guys," Sora said turning her head being stubborn.

Sasuke put her on her bed. "You know, you're a really bad liar," he said sitting next to her.

Sora's face flushed. "Sasuke, I need to change and wash you know!" she said trying to shove him off the bed. "You can't stay in here!"

Sasuke inwardly smiled. "Fine," he said getting up but grasping her arm. "But you've got to come down in ten minutes or I'm coming up to get you."

"What? Ten minutes?" Sora said trying to free herself.

"Ten minutes," Sasuke said and finally let her go. He walked out of the room and gently closed the door.

"Ten minutes," Sora grumbled as she gritted her teeth. "Who does he think he is?" She focused her thoughts. I've got to use my Chakra today or else I'll- She focused hard and finally got some out. She used it to strengthen her legs to allow her to walk over to the bathroom connected to her room. "Ten minutes," she muttered again.

Ten minutes passed and Sora was changed and washed but was having a hard time walking to her door. She was almost there when she heard Sasuke's footsteps again. Shoot… She tried to force herself to run but couldn't. Her door slid open and she looked up but didn't see anyone. "What the?" She felt two arms snake around her waist from behind. "Sasuke!" she yelled.

"Ten minutes," he said calmly picking her up.

"Jerk!" she hissed. He was unfazed. "Put me down now! I can walk!"

"Not until you tell me what happened," he said walking out of her room.

Why does he always do that? Sora thought in frustration. He always takes advantage of my condition to force me to tell him things… "No way! You should put me down because this is not appropriate and-"

Sasuke dropped her legs and pinned her against the wall. His face was dangerously close to hers. "Just tell me." He forced her to look at his eyes. Sora's eyes widened. He grasped her arm and brought it up in between them. "How did you get these injuries?"

Sora began to breathe harder. "Please," she said trying in vain to break free.

"How?" Sasuke said pushing her harder against the wall.

"I…I…" She didn't like Sasuke being so close to her with no one else around. "I just hurt myself trying to use some of my techniques, that's all." It's true…

Sasuke looked deep into her eyes. She's so stubborn.

"Hey, Sasuke, Sora," Kakashi's voice came from downstairs. "Breakfast is getting cold and we need to start training soon."

Sasuke sighed and released Sora. He turned his back to her. "Can you walk?" he asked simply.

"Huh? Uh, of course I can," Sora said. She took a deep breath and used her Chakra to make herself walk. This is going to be a tiring day if I have to use my Chakra for just basic things like walking…

The two finally made it down the stairs and sat down at the table. Sora was panting slightly from the effort she made to walk. Kakashi noticed but didn't say anything to Sora and resumed his conversation with Tazuna. Sora ate in silence and refused to look at Sasuke or Kakashi. Then she finally spoke. "Hey, where're Naruto and Inari?" she asked Tsunami.

"Oh, Inari's in his room and Naruto I think is training in the woods," she replied.

"Training?" Sora said. His stamina surprises me to no end.

Training? Sasuke thought. He finished his meal quickly and stood up. "We should go now."

"Oh, yup," Kakashi said stretching as he got up. He didn't need crutches anymore. "We certainly should, but Sora?"

She finally looked up at him. "Yes?"

"Why don't you stay here for today and rest," he said. "You should be fine by tomorrow."

"Oh, ok," she said. Whew! she thought with a mental sigh of relief.

"I need to take care of some business today but I won't be going to the bridge so I won't need any assistance," Tazuna said. He smiled at Sora. She smiled back gratefully.

The three left Sora and Tsunami. "I think I need to go back to sleep," Sora said feeling very tired from her Chakra use.

"Oh, go right ahead," Tsunami said smiling. "You did go through some nasty training yesterday."

"Thank you," Sora said. She sighed as she got up. Now for the journey back…

Once in her room, Sora flopped down on the bed. Her eyes closed and she immediately fell asleep.

Now's my chance, the shadow said. She left Sora's sleeping body in spirit leaving Sora unable to wake up until she returned. With that she transported herself away. Uchiha, Uchiha, where are you? she asked herself with a wicked grin on her face as she raced through space and time. There! She appeared over Itachi's sleeping form and reached out a hand. She touched his head and was transported into his dreams.

"Who's there?" Itachi demanded. He wasn't scared. He wasn't sacred of anything anymore. "Come out," he commanded.

"Uchiha," the shadow said. She looked like Sora.

"It's you!" Itachi said. "All this time of torturing me without your presence…" He reached out to her but couldn't touch her.

"Itachi…"

Why can't I touch you? he thought desperately. Am I not strong enough yet?

"Please," Sora said. "I need you…"

"But I…I can't even touch you," Itachi said.

Sora smiled sadly. He isn't strong enough…not at this level…he needs more power.He needs the Nine-Tails' power. The one who sealed me away can bring me back to life… "You need more power."

Itachi winced. "So I'm not strong enough…"

"Get the Nine-Tails' power and make it your own. You must have the power stronger than anyone in this world. You must have the power of a god!" the shadow of Sora said. She reached out to Itachi. "Please…" She began to fade. "Please…"

"Wait!" Itachi reached for her. "No-" He woke with a start. He was covered with a cold sweat. He clenched his fist in anger. I'm not strong enough! he said to himself. He got up and left in a rush.

The shadow rushed back to Sora's body. He's so gullible, she thought. He fulfilled my curse and destroyed his own clan for me and now I'm going to destroy both him and his brother! She laughed evilly to herself.

Tsunami decided to let Sora sleep and rest instead of waking her for meals. She needs it, she had thought. Who knows what Kakashi put her through… Finally the men came home.

"Dinner is ready!" she said.

"I'm so hungry!" Naruto said sprinting in to his seat.

"I think we all are," Sasuke said coldly. The training had been especially tough that day.

"Well, you've got to wash up first," Tsunami said looking at how dirty they all were.

"Fine," Naruto said in his complaining voice. He went for the stairs.

"Oh, and Sensei," she said.

"Yes?" Kakashi paused.

"If you think it's ok, Sora is still asleep so maybe you could wake her up for dinner," she said.

"Sure," he said and went up stairs.

Asleep? Sasuke thought. Kakashi had better not done anything too serious to her. He followed up the stairs.

The two boys went into their rooms and began to wash and Kakashi went into Sora's room. He walked up to her sleeping figure and sat on the bed next to her. "Hey, Sora," he said lightly shaking her.

She stirred and her eyes fluttered open. "Oh, Sensei?" she said groggily.

"Did you want to come down for dinner?" Kakashi asked.

"Uh," Sora said. She was still incredibly sore. "Sure."

"Hm," Kakashi said.

She tried sitting up but she was so sore she couldn't. "Ow…"

"Here," Kakashi said offering his hand. "Let me help you." She nodded and gave him her hand. It's so soft… he thought as he pulled her up to him. So slender and beautiful. Her smaller hand fit perfectly into his larger calloused one. He wanted to pull her into a tight embrace and feel her whole body. Feel the smooth glowing skin under her clothes that he only dreamed of touching. Taste her delicate lips and…peeerrrvert… He snapped out of it and helped support Sora as she stood up. She put an arm around his neck unaware of what thoughts he held. It was almost too much for Kakashi as he felt her arm on his neck but he refused to give in.

It took all of Kakashi's energy to get Sora down to dinner without touching her in any sort of sexual way. He wanted to so badly. Dammit Kakashi, he told himself. She's taking over your mind.

They all finally sat down and began to eat. Inari was quiet as usual and Naruto was chatting away about his training to Sora. "Then I made it to the top of the tree!" Naruto finished.

"Really?" Sora asked. "In just two days?"

"Yeah!" Naruto said proudly. But Sasuke did too…grrr…

"That is impressive," Sora said smiling.

Inari couldn't stand it anymore. He got up. "It doesn't matter! Not a bit!" he yelled bitterly.

"Inari," Tsunami said.

"You can't be stronger than Gatou!" he shouted beginning to cry. "You'll never defeat his men! There's no way, not even with your pointless training!" Tears streamed down his face.

Naruto looked at him. He focused his gaze.

"You don't know what it's like to lose someone so close to you!" Inari sobbed. "If you did then you would see that everything is pointless in this world!"

"Shut up," Naruto said quietly. "You don't know what you're saying. I've got confidence in myself unlike you. I've got people I love right here and I'll protect them with everything I've got. I'm not a crybaby like you!"

Inari looked at him angrily than he ran out of the room.

"Naruto," Sora said in shock. "Don't you think that was too harsh?"

"Hm, well he was spying on me during my training this morning," he said simply and stood up. "I'm going now, ok?" He walked out of the room and shut the door behind him.

Naruto, Sora thought. Those two are similar though…Inari thinks that there's no one in this world he can rely on anymore and Naruto…well, he never had anyone to rely on to begin with…I guess he's just past the denial and tears.

They all agreed that it was late and they needed to rest. They went to their rooms but Sora took a slight detour. She went out to the balcony and found Inari sitting with his legs dangling over the edge. The others were already in their rooms. She smiled and walked over to him. "Hey, can I sit here?" she asked. Inari nodded but didn't turn around. "Inari," she said softly. "Naruto's not trying to be mean to you." Inari sniffed and shuddered slightly. "You two are very similar and I bet he knows what you're feeling."

"How could a jerk like him know what it's like to have no one to count on?" Inari choked.

It's just as I thought, Sora thought. She put a hand on Inari's arm. "He's never had parents like you have and he's never been able to rely on anyone before. I bet he tells himself what he told you today over and over again. He's gotten past the point of crying because he tells himself that he has no other choice but to be strong and move on in life."

Inari's tears began to flow down his face again. "Sora," he whispered. He was shaking violently. Sora pulled him closer and hugged him tightly. Inari couldn't help but weep in her arms. "I'm so sorry," he said.

"Shh," Sora said still holding him. "It's ok. You've got to be strong within yourself and protect those around you. Isn't that what Kaiza did?"

Inari looked up at Sora. "Yes."

"He set a good example and-"

"-he would want me to follow it," Inari finished for her. "Yeah, I've gotta be strong." He wiped his face.

Sora stood up and helped Inari up as well. "Let's go to sleep, ok?"

"Yeah," Inari sniffed. "Thanks, Sora." Sora smiled and the two went back in the house.

Sora walked Inari to his room. "Goodnight, Inari," she said smiling.

Inari turned suddenly and gave Sora a hug. Sora was shocked at first but then she hugged him back. After a few seconds Inari let go with tears in his eyes. "Yeah," he said wiping them away. "Night." He went in his room and Sora shut his door.

She turned to go to her room and suddenly felt incredibly tired. What? She put her hand on the wall for support. Why am I so tired all of a sudden? She forced her body to move. Just a few more steps… She reached her room and went straight for her bed without closing the door. Her energy was gone. She collapsed on the bed without covering herself and closed her eyes to a dreamless sleep.

In the middle of the night Kakashi woke up. Something's wrong, he thought and got up pulling his pants on. He was too worried and in a rush to put on his shirt. He ran silently out into the hall and saw Sora's door open. Sora! He quickly ran to her room and entered. He saw her lying half on the bed without covers. She was shaking. He picked her up. What's happening? he thought. Her body felt cold as ice. It made him shiver. He put her under the covers but she still shook violently. Then she spoke.

"It's cold…" she said.

"Huh?" Kakashi started. Is she awake? "Sora," he said grasping her hand.

"So cold…" she said again. She was not awake.

He shook her lightly trying to wake her. "Sora," he said again. "Wake up!"

Sora just trembled more violently. She didn't wake up.

This might look bad… Kakashi thought as he lifted Sora and moved himself under the sheets. He sat against the wall on the bed and brought Sora up on his lap. He pulled the blankets over them both and wrapped his bare arms around her shaking body. …but it's necessary. He held her close. I need to stay in control, he thought as he wrapped his legs around hers. This is only because it's necessary. Sora's shaking began to decline but she still felt freezing cold. She breathed out heavily. Her breath was filled with ice crystals that disappeared in the air. "Sora," Kakashi whispered in her ear. "I won't leave you, just hang on."

Kakashi fought to stay awake the entire night. He found himself thinking about Sora and himself in certain situations. His hand had somehow found its way underneath Sora's shirt and he subconsciously stroked Sora's stomach. It was so smooth and soft. Such a perfect body…WHOA THERE, she's my student, HELLO? It took all he had to keep himself from moving his hand up. He jerked himself fully awake. Ah, the Icha Icha Paradise is getting to me. Got to keep conscious… he told himself, but soon he finally couldn't take it anymore.

He slipped down so that he was lying on his side with Sora's back against his chest. He wrapped one arm around her stomach so she was lying on top of it and protectively covered her chest area with the other arm placing his hand on her shoulder. He pulled her even closer to his own body. Just for warmth…yeah right…shut up. He put his head right behind hers almost touching. He couldn't help but intertwine his legs with hers. If someone saw this right now, it would look very bad indeed, but it's not, he reasoned with himself. You're sad, you know that? No I'm not. You can't lie to yourself. It's not a lie. It is. No, it's not. Yes, it is. NO! YES! NO! YES! NO! YES! FINE! YES, I LOVE HER! He held her even tighter. I love her. He pulled down his mask. Sora… He leaned his head forward. I love you. His lips met her neck. The taste was addicting. He couldn't stop. I love you! He brought her down so she was lying on her back and he moved himself on top of her.

Luckily she's asleep, his conscience told him. Otherwise you wouldn't be alive right now. Will you just shut up and let me enjoy this? He had waited for this moment where he could finally touch her the way he wanted to. He wasn't going to let his conscience ruin it. He was glad Sora was asleep but at the same time, he wished that she would wake up and return his kisses. He moved his head down and kissed the crook of her neck gently but then more passionately. He made a trail of kisses up her neck to underneath her chin.

He heard a soft moan escape Sora's lips but she was still asleep. The sound made Kakashi heat up. He put his hand back under her shirt and he began to push it up but he didn't dare touch her breasts or kiss her lips. He was also careful not to leave bruises or anything suspicious behind. Sora, if only you knew… he thought as he continued to worship her body, how much I love you. He finally closed his eyes and even remembered to put his mask back on before he fell asleep with Sora under him.

Hours later, the sunlight spilled over the tops of the mountains and Sora stirred. She half-opened her eyes and saw a blur. All she could remember was feeling extremely cold after talking with Inari but she felt fine now. Well, she felt someone on top of her. What? She turned her head and saw a sleeping Kakashi incredibly close to her face. Did he…o my god, she thought all at once. She gasped and tried to sit up causing Kakashi to wake up.

"Huh?" he asked no one groggily lifting his head.

"Sensei!" Sora whisper-screamed. "Did you…?" Her eyes went wide with disbelief.

Kakashi shot up fully awake and quickly got off her. "Sora!" he exclaimed quietly so as not to wake anyone else in the house up. "It's not what you think!" Uh, yeah it is. I thought I told you to shut up.

"What?" Sora still whisper-screamed. "You just…slept with me!" She tried to scoot away from him noting that he didn't have a shirt on.

"Listen," Kakashi said grabbing her hand. She tried to pull away. "Sora, I sensed something in the night and I came to check on you and you were freezing. Your body was like ice and I…I couldn't just leave you there!"

"You could've woken me up!" she said while still struggling to get loose.

"I tried to," Kakashi said pulling her towards him to keep her from struggling. She fought back but finally Kakashi pinned her against the wall. "If I left you, you probably would've-"

"Why didn't you get Tsunami-sama?" Sora said still freaked.

"Huh?" He hadn't thought of that.

I don't believe this, Sora thought. Is he just a caring teacher or a pervert? She didn't know what Kakashi had done with her during the night.

Crap… Kakashi thought. In truth he had wanted ever since he met her to do what he did with her and then some. Idiot, he told himself. Now she's going to think I'm a pervert…well, you are, his conscience told him. Not again…You already admitted it, she's the one. What? She's the one in your dreams. She's the one you can't stop thinking about. She's the- SHUT UP! Kakashi let Sora's arms go. He looked away in embarrassment.

Sora noticed his change of expression. Sensei? She remembered what that other voice inside of her told her. Kakashi loves you as well…Does he? Do I? She gulped. "Sensei, I'm sorry," she started.

Kakashi turned around surprised. "What?"

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have mistrusted your words," Sora said. He's my sensei for crying out loud! I'm not going to give into that other voice…

I…you…I can't take this, Kakashi thought. She has every right to be mad at me and now she's apologizing because I'm her sensei? He felt a pang in his heart. Does this mean she doesn't love me? Of course not, you're her sensei, duh… His conscious was back. Kakashi clenched his fist. But I love her. Now's not the time, just take it and wait, his conscious urged him. Fine. "Sora," he said. "What I did was inappropriate and-"

"No, you're my sensei," she interrupted him. "You were just doing what I needed in that condition." He's my sensei, she repeated to herself.

I'm just your sensei… Kakashi thought depressed inside but he kept his cool outside. "It still doesn't excuse me from my actions," he said as he stood up rigidly. They heard the morning bell. "I should go." He turned and left the room closing the door softly behind him.

Sora clutched her head and bent over to lean on her elbows. She was frustrated. "Arg!" she yelled softly to herself. After almost pulling out some hair she got up and went to take a bath. I need to relax… Then she stopped. Wait, she thought looking around. Something's different. She looked at her arms and legs. They were completely healed. Her pain was all gone. "This is impossible," she said out loud holding up her arm. I must be going crazy! She ran into the bathroom and turned on the hot water. Bath, bath, bath…she thought. I'm going insane! She stripped herself and looked in the mirror. Her body was back to normal. No scratches, bruises, scars, or anything, just her normal body…her perfect body. Her skin had a healthy glow and looked smooth as silk. Her curves were exactly proportioned and her toned muscles were in mint condition. She never really "appreciated" her body as much as other girls would have if they had her form. All she saw in it was that it attracted too much unwanted attention. She sighed and got in the tub. The water was steaming and it felt like heaven. She dunked her head in the water and began washing her hair.

After 20 minutes she was out of the bathroom dressed and ready to eat breakfast. Everyone else was already down eating when she came. "Hello," she said softly. Everyone looked at her in shock except Kakashi who was trying to act normally.

"Sora," Tazuna said with wide eyes. "Are you feeling all right?"

"Huh? Uh, yes," she said uncertainly.

"Your injuries," he said. "They're all gone! And you can walk!"

So it's not just me, Sora thought.

"What?" Naruto said. "What injuries? I knew she was tired from training but I didn't know about any injuries! Sora, are you ok?"

If you had looked at her with an observant eye you would have seen all those bandages, idiot, Sasuke thought. He caught her eye. I need to talk to her.

"I'm fine, Naruto," she said after breaking her gaze with Sasuke. She sat in her seat in between him and Sasuke. She wasn't particularly hungry but she forced herself to eat.

"You should've told me!" Naruto said crossing his arms.

"I didn't want you worried when you've got your training to do," Sora said quietly. "I'm sorry."

Naruto was taken aback. "No, I didn't mean it that way, Sora," he said quickly. "It's just…" he trailed off.

Sasuke got up. "We should go," he said.

"Yes," Kakashi said apparently back to normal. "You two still need to work on your control of Chakra, but Sora?"

Sora looked up. She tried to keep her expression calm. It's not fair that he's totally unaffected by this! she thought bitterly.

"I think you should go with Tazuna to the bridge today," he said. He knew that Zabuza was still not strong enough to attack by any means. I need to get my mind off of her, he thought. It's not fair that she's unaffected by this… He got up and signaled the two boys after him.

Naruto followed blindly not noticing the tension in their voices. "Be careful ok?" he said to Sora.

She smiled weakly.

Sasuke definitely sensed the tension. Kakashi, you'd better not have done anything to her, he threatened in his mind. He turned and left.

Sora and Tazuna left for the bridge soon after. Once at the bridge, Tazuna got straight to work. Sora offered to help but Tazuna was still skeptical on her physical condition. He wouldn't allow her to help so Sora was stuck watching the construction. A few hours after midday and lunch break, Tazuna finally called the group of about 20 men together to announce that they could go home for the day. The men began to leave. When Sora and Tazuna were about to leave, one of the men came up to Tazuna.

"Uh, Tazuna-sama," the man said nervously.

"Yes?" Tazuna said.

"Uh, I don't think I can come back anymore," he said looking down. "I'm sorry!"

"Huh?"

"It's just, it's been said that Gatou's going to come with more of his thugs and kill us all if we don't stop working on this bridge!" the man pleaded. "Please, stop with me! You're going to get killed if you don't!"

Tazuna looked down, his hat covering his eyes in a shadow. "I can't…"

"Tazuna," the man interrupted. "Please!"

"I'm sorry," Tazuna said quietly. He turned to pick his pack up. "You don't have to come back tomorrow. I understand."

"But-"

"Goodbye," Tazuna said and walked away. Sora looked at the man who was staring in disbelief at Tazuna's retreating figure. She felt sorry for him, for them all. She turned to catch up to Tazuna.

Once they were in the small town near the port, Sora ventured to speak. "Tazuna-sama?" she said quietly.

"Yes?"

"That man really does care for you," she said cautiously.

"I know," he said sighing. "I don't blame any of them for quitting. I know their fears and it is a dangerous job. But I can't quit now." He tightened his hand. "It's this village's last hope and I'm Kaiza's brother!"

Sora fell silent. These poor people…she thought. Why do things like this happen to such good people?

"Tsunami wanted us to buy some more food for tonight," Tazuna said. He stopped by a market and went inside.

Sora followed and was shocked at the sight inside. There was almost nothing on the shelves. Just a few vegetables here and there and they didn't look healthy. "So little," she said. "Why is there so little?" Her heart ached for the people here.

Tazuna grabbed some vegetables and other necessities. "We can't grow a lot of our own food here on the island. The soil isn't rich enough so we had to rely on imports and our exports to get food. Now that Gatou controls the water transportation, we can't get our food without paying a huge tax and we already don't have much money." Tazuna paid for the food and left.

Sora began to follow but then she felt a hand near her butt. "Eh?" she gasped and then immediately turned around and kicked a man hard across the face. "PERVERT!" she screamed.

The man crumpled down on the ground. "I'm not a pervert…" he said while twitching. He had tried to steal some things out of Sora's pack that was hanging on her side near her butt.

Sora didn't hear him and walked away with a huff. "What's with these people?" she said exasperated.

Tazuna chuckled lightly at her outburst. What a fiery girl! he thought.

Then Sora felt another hand clutching her dress from the back. AGAIN! She dangerously turned around ready to smack anyone there but then she saw a little girl. She was thin and dirty and she smiled up at Sora with her hands out. "Give?" she asked.

Sora looked at her and tears began to well up in her eyes. She wiped them with the back of her hand and dug out some candy which was all she had in her pack and gave them to the little girl.

The girl smiled happily and her eyes lit up. "Thank you so much!" She ran off to share with her family and friends.

Sora sniffed and wiped away more tears.

Tazuna put a hand on her shoulder. "These kids deserve better," he said beginning to feel tears in his eyes as well. "The adults have gotten so hopeless and that affects the kids." He began to walk again. "That's why I need to finish that bridge."

Sora nodded and walked with him back to his house.

Naruto and Sasuke separated for their training and Kakashi was off somewhere doing something. Sasuke was focusing on walking on water. It was a lot harder than the tree exercise but he was quickly getting the hang of it. Naruto was still working on not running out of energy upon getting to the top of the tree. Since Sasuke had passed that portion of the training and Kakashi had given them different exercises to work on.

Why is he always ahead of me? Naruto thought angrily. Then he felt a presence. He turned around and saw Inari. He smiled slightly with amusement. "Heh, what do you want now?"

Inari gulped a little. "I, uh, just wanted to say that…" He couldn't finish it.

"Yeah?" Naruto said walking up to him.

"Uh," Inari stuttered. "I…I…I'm sorry, ok?" he blurted out. Tears began to well up again.

"Huh?" Naruto was surprised at Inari's behavior. "Hey, it's ok."

Inari shook his head. "No," he choked out. "I want…I want to be strong too! I know the only reason why I hated you was because you could believe in yourself and I couldn't believe. That's what Kaiza would have wanted me to do, but I'm too weak." He began crying.

Naruto looked at him and then put a hand on his shoulder. "No, you're not weak," he said smiling. "You're strong! I mean, it takes a lot of strength and guts to apologize to someone."

Inari looked up at him through his tears. "But I'm a crybaby."

"Well, it's ok to cry at first," Naruto said. "I've been there. You've got a lot of strength in there and now is the time to use it!" He patted his head.

Inari forced himself to stop crying. "Yeah."

"Now you should probably get home," Naruto said looking up at the sky. "It's getting dark."

"What about you?" Inari asked.

"I've got to do more training," Naruto said putting his hands behind his head and smiling. "A hero's always got to make sure he's in top notch shape!"

Inari smiled. "Yeah!"

"Now, you really should go before it gets too dark," Naruto said with a friendly shove.

"See ya," Inari said running off waving back at him as he went.

"Yeah, see ya later." Once Inari was out of sight, he focused his Chakra again. I can't slack off anymore! He sprinted up the tree. KEEP GOING! he told himself. "AHHH!" he yelled. He made it to the top but then he had to fall back to the nearest branch. He was exhausted. "Dammit," he cursed while breathing heavily then he suddenly felt tired. What? I already used up all my Chakra? Naruto was planning to stay out all night if need be. He couldn't stand anymore. What's going on? He lost his balance and began to fall. I'm going to break my neck if I don't… He forced himself to jump back and forth from tree to tree as he fell to slow himself down. He landed safely but he was completely out of it. He collapsed on ground and his eyes closed.

Soon everyone was back at the house except Naruto. Dinner was over and Tazuna, Tsunami, and Inari had all gone to bed. Sora wanted to stay awake a little while longer to just sit and look at the stars on the porch. Kakashi also wanted to stay out a little longer. Sasuke wanted to talk with Sora in private but couldn't with Kakashi still there so he stayed up with her. Sora was sipping a cup of tea as they were all relaxing in the night air. It felt peaceful here in comparison to the town near the port with the poor people and children. Sasuke was sitting next to her sharpening a knife with a rock he had found and Kakashi was behind them with his hands in his pockets leaning against the house. He was silently looking at Sora. Then she broke the silence. "I wonder where Naruto is, I mean, it must be almost midnight and he's not back."

"Don't worry about him," Sasuke said moving the rock across the curved blade. "He said something about training all night if he had to." And it seems like he had to, he smirked inside but concentrated on his blade.

"Really?" Sora said. He's so dedicated, she thought. He's going to seriously kill himself one day. She smiled and shook her head.

Kakashi was silently thinking the entire time. If Zabuza attacks, he planned, then I need to protect Tazuna and Sora because she shouldn't fight. But I can't let him know that she can't fight because he'll target her. And that Hunter-nin…I wonder what he can do. Sasuke will be ready to face him…but what about Naruto? He's getting behind. Finally he decided that he needed some sleep. He looked at the two Genins and a wave of jealousy washed over him. I shouldn't be jealous, he thought trying to calm himself. He glanced at Sasuke putting away his blade and tossing the rock into the night. No, I should leave them…this will show Sora that I'm not a pervert…but you are. Shut up. He turned to go in the house. "You two shouldn't stay up too long," he said casually. You'd better not try anything on Sora, Sasuke, he thought as he remembered the night before.

"We won't," Sora said putting down her empty cup.

Finally! Sasuke thought.

"Good night," Kakashi said and went inside.

"Night," Sora replied.

Sasuke felt Kakashi's presence leave. He was about to say something when,

"Sasuke-kun, you wanted to talk to me?" Sora said.

Sasuke wasn't surprised. He knew that she could sense his tension. "Sora," he began. An image of him lying on top of her on her bed kissing her came to his mind. "I…I'm just worried that's all." He rested his arm on his knee and refused look at her. "What happened to you the other day?"

Sora didn't want to tell him that she had lost control over her powers. I'm so weak, she thought. "I told you, it's just training." She tried to look like she wasn't lying but failed again.

Sasuke couldn't keep himself in control anymore and suddenly pushed her down on the porch. He put an arm on either side of her and moved himself on top of her. "Sora, I'm tired of trying to figure you out. Something's wrong and I can feel it." He ran his fingers through her silky red hair. "I can't stand to see you in pain anymore. You torture me!" He lowered himself even closer to her and touched his forehead with hers. "Please." He moved his head slowly to the side and began kissing her cheek moving his way down.

Sora gasped and began to worry that Sasuke would do something they both knew he shouldn't. "Sasuke, please, get up." She pushed him away but he brought her up with him and she ended up in his arms. "Sasuke-"

"Sora, don't," he whispered in her ear. "Don't push me away. I'll die."

She couldn't tell if he was absolutely serious or just in the spur of the moment. She felt his arms bringing her closer. She felt his lips caress her neck. She felt his heart beating faster. She felt his pain. And I'm the cause of this? she thought to herself. "Sasuke, I'm just…" she paused shaking a little, "I'm just sorry for causing you this pain." She pulled away a little not meaning to break his embrace. She put a hand on his chest over his heart and looked at it not wanting to see his reaction. I know if I tell him that he should just forget about me, I'd cause him more pain. I don't want that. I really do care for him it's just…I don't want to lead him on. But love? I don't understand. She wanted him to be happy but she didn't know how to show him she did.

Sasuke grasped her hand with his over his heart. Does she understand my pain? Does she know how much I love her? Then Sora surprised him and herself by lifting the other hand to touch his face. He stared at her, his eyes filled with confusion.

She tried to look deep into his eyes. I sense something tomorrow. Something terrible is going to happen. Sasuke, you need your strength. I don't know what else to do. She leaned forward and gently brushed her lips against his but pulled back quickly. Sasuke was so shocked he couldn't move. His heart was racing. Sora stood up letting Sasuke's arms fall back to his sides. "We should go in," she said.

"S…Sora?"

"You need rest," she continued.

"Did you just-"

Sora reached down and pulled him up. "Just get rest." He was about to say something else but she put a finger to his lips. She looked straight at him with her mystifying eyes. He became lost in them and couldn't speak. Sora took his hand and led him up the stairs to his room. She led him to his bed and pushed him to lie down. She covered him with his blankets and leaned over him one more time. "Good night," she said.

Sasuke finally managed to get over his shock and said something. "Sora?"

He needs his strength for tomorrow, she thought. She touched his face stroking it softly. "Sleep now and revitalize your body. You're tired and anguished with your worries. Forget them as you close your eyes." She gently closed his eyes with her fingers. Sasuke wanted to pull her down under the covers and have her next to him all night. He almost did until he felt her pull away suddenly. She walked over to the door and slid it open. "Good night." She left and the door closed behind her.

Sasuke opened his eyes and sat up. He couldn't believe what had just happened. Did she kiss me? he thought as he touched his lips. His mind flashed back to when they were still outside and she had leaned in surprisingly. He had felt her soft lips on his own. A chill went down his back. Then he fell back into his pillow truly smiling for once in a very long time. His eyes closed and he fell to a dreamless sleep.

Sora made it back to her room in silence and she closed the door. Then she fell to her knees trembling. Why? she asked herself. Why did I kiss him? She hugged herself to keep from shaking. Do I love him?

What is love?

No, he just needs this rest for tomorrow.

What about Kakashi?

Kakashi… She snapped her eyes open. She felt guilty. Am I leading them on? Both of them? They're going to hate each other. She stood up shakily and made it over to her bed. She crawled in and covered herself with the sheets. What about Naruto? I hope he's ok. There's something that's going to happen tomorrow for everyone. I can feel it.

Naruto had fallen asleep in the forest where he had been training. Morning came and the sunlight fell gently on his face. It was still very early and he was sound asleep, but then he felt someone shake him. He stirred and slightly opened his eyes.

"Hey," Naruto heard a voice say.

He fully opened his eyes and sat up rubbing them. "Huh?"

"Are you ok?" the person asked.

Naruto looked over to who was talking. It was a girl with long black hair and pale skin. She was dressed in some sort of dress with flowers on it and she was very pretty. Naruto couldn't help but blush even though he knew that Sora was much prettier.

"Are you ok?" she asked again.

"Uh, yeah," he said sheepishly putting his hand behind his head and smiling.

"What are you doing out here so early in the morning?" the girl asked.

"Oh, I'm training!" he said proudly. He fixed his hair so that she could see his forehead protector. "I'm a ninja!"

"Oh," she said. "Well, you look strong already."

"Really?" Naruto said getting excited.

"Why do you need to train then?"

"To become stronger!" Naruto said automatically. "My goal is to become the Hokage in my village. I've got to train every day if I want to see that happen."

"Really?" the girl said. She went into a flashback to her childhood. She was wandering the streets for food, orphaned and alone. It was snowing like it always did in her village. A dog came up and growled at her when she found some food in the trash dump. She kicked the dog and went on to find a place to eat. She was starving too. Her life was miserable and didn't seem to be worth living. She contemplated suicide but something kept her from doing it. Then one day, a man came up to her on a bridge and took her with him. This man took care of her every need and brought her up, trained her, and now she was fighting for him. She snapped back to reality. "I think when a person has something or someone important to protect that is when he becomes truly strong," she said quietly. "Do you have someone important to you?"

"Huh?" Naruto looked into her eyes. He thought of Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke. He thought of Sora. He closed his eyes in a smile. "Yeah, I have important people I need to protect."

The girl smiled. She picked up her basket that was full of herbs.

"What's that?" Naruto asked.

"Oh, these are healing herbs," she explained. "I'm picking them for someone important to me." She began to walk away.

Naruto looked after her. "Hey, my name's Uzumaki Naruto. I didn't get your name!" he called after her.

She stopped and turned around. "My name is Haku." She turned around again.

"Haku, huh?" Naruto thought. She's pretty, he thought.

Haku sensed Naruto's expression. "And I'm a man."

"Wha?" Naruto fell over twitching. Haku left with his basket. "How is that?" he asked himself. He sat up again. "This world is full of surprises," he said as he nodded his head in agreement with himself. Then he realized that he had stayed out all night and that the others might be worried about him. He got up and started running towards Tazuna's house.

Once he arrived, he saw that the windows were all still dark and everyone was asleep. Not even Tsunami had woken up yet. He crept inside and went up to his room. He was completely exhausted. I'll just take a quick nap and then… He was already asleep.

Sasuke woke up as he usually did, early, but today was different. He felt more confident. He felt more alive. Sora, he thought. Please don't forget. He rushed through washing and decided to check on Sora before he went down to breakfast. He quietly came to Sora's room. The door was closed. He could sense that she was not awake yet and was tempted to go in and slip in bed beside her but he restrained himself. It took all of his control to make himself walk away to go to breakfast. Don't push me away…

Today is the day we all go to the bridge, Kakashi thought as he stretched. I think they're ready. He quickly washed up and dressed. He heard Tsunami cooking already downstairs and knew that Sasuke was already awake. Then he remembered last night. He narrowed his eyes and tightened his fist slightly. No, no, calm, he told himself. I am not a pervert. Well, technically- SHUT UP! He made sure his forehead protector was securely covering his eye and proceed downstairs with his hands in his pockets. Calm, calm, calm…

Sora and Tazuna woke at around the same time but of course Tazuna got down to breakfast much sooner than Sora. She hadn't slept much that night. Her mind was too worried with the foreboding sense of the future. She had had these sorts of senses of the future before and knew that when she felt something, it usually came true. She took her time in her bath that day and brushed her gleaming hair carefully. She stared at herself in the mirror and sighed. "You need to stop worrying," she told herself trying to cheer up. "Have faith in Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke, and even Naruto." She smiled a bit. Oh, yeah, she thought. I hope Naruto is back by now. Maybe I should check on him. She left her room and came to Naruto's. She put her ear to the door and heard loud snores and occasional movement. He's here. She gave a small sigh of relief. He must be exhausted though. I shouldn't wake him up. She walked downstairs where everyone else was already eating.

"Sora," Kakashi said. "I already told Sasuke but I think that we should all go to the bridge today and watch over Tazuna's work."

"Uh, ok," she said sitting down. She didn't look at Sasuke. "But Naruto's asleep and he'll probably be out the whole day since he trained so much yesterday."

"Oh?" Kakashi said. "Yes, he should regain his strength today. I guess it'll be just the three of us then."

Sasuke didn't want to look suspicious in front of Kakashi but he felt like screaming at Sora to look at him. He made furtive glances at her every now and then hoping to make eye contact. Sora, why are you doing this to me? Was it all a dream last night? Did she not kiss me? He was almost going crazy.

Once Sora finished eating, Tazuna gathered his things and they were off to the bridge. It was a pretty quiet walk since all of them were deep in thought or tired. As they got closer and closer, the sea mist became more prevalent. Odd, Tazuna thought. Once they reached the bridge it was incredibly misty. "Hello?" he called out. It was already past the time work was supposed to start. "Hello?"

"This is strange," Kakashi said quietly. Then he sensed it. "Tazuna-sama," he said.

Tazuna turned his head to look at Kakashi and saw Kakashi pointing at something. He looked hard and could finally make out the outline of something. "What?" He ran over to it and knelt down. "O my god!" he gasped out. It was the body of one of his workers. His throat had been cut and the blood was still flowing out.

"Are they-?" Sora whispered. Chills ran down her spine.

"Yes," Kakashi said getting out his kunai blade. "Zabuza and the Nin are here."

"Ha, ha, ha," an evil laughter filled the air.

Sasuke's first reaction was to stand in front of Sora. He had his dagger out.

Sasuke? Sora thought as he stood in front of her protectively.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes. "Sora, get back with Tazuna."

She jumped a little at her name but then she nodded. She put a hand on Sasuke's shoulder first then quickly ran over to Tazuna who was crying over his friends' deaths. She put a hand on his back. "Tazuna-sama," she said softly.

Tazuna tried to stop crying. "They're all dead…" he whispered. "…and it's my fault."

Sora gently pulled him up. "Tazuna-sama, it's not your fault. We've got to be careful now." She got out her dagger but still kept her grip on Tazuna's arm. "He's here."

Tazuna stiffened. He was scared.

"So you're finally here, Kakashi," Zabuza's dark voice said.

"Zabuza," Kakashi said equally dark.

Ten Zabuzas appeared surrounding the group.

"Sasuke?" Kakashi said.

Sasuke nodded and in the blink of an eye he had cut through all of the clones with his blade. The water from the clones splashed to the ground.

Then the real Zabuza and the masked Nin's figures appeared in the mist. "Impressive," he jeered. "I would have hoped your burdens had gotten stronger or this might not be fun for me to kill all of you."

"Save it," Kakashi said. "Your existence is despicable, killing these innocent people."

"Oh, but I've already killed so many innocent people," Zabuza said. "What's a few more to me?"

Kakashi didn't answer but pulled his forehead protector up revealing his Sharingan again.

"Sharingan?" Zabuza mocked. "Really, Kakashi, couldn't you think of something better?" Then he motioned for the Nin to come up. "Haku," he said. "Let's end it."

"Yes," the Nin said. He stepped forward.

Kakashi nodded to Sasuke and he stepped forward as well. The two boys faced each other. Then in the blink of an eye, Haku made a whirlwind of screeching air around him as he advanced at Sasuke and Sasuke ran at him with his kunai out. A rush of mist swirled around the two as they fought. The clashings of their weapons rang out into the still air. Haku had two needles in between his fingers and was using them as dagger-like weapons to fight against Sasuke's own dagger. Haku struck with his free hand but Sasuke dodged it. Then their blades met and stayed, each not willing to give up to the other. "You're fast," Haku commented.

"So are you," Sasuke said.

"I don't want to hurt you," Haku said.

"What?"

"But I must fight," Haku said pushing harder than before. Sasuke slid back. "I must win."

"No way," Sasuke said pushing back.

"Hm," Haku said. "You might be fast but I'm already two steps ahead of you."

"And how is that?" Sasuke sneered.

"First, there's water on the ground and second, I've got both of your hands occupied with only one of mine so all you can do is receive and block my attacks," Haku explained.

What is he talking about? Sasuke said.

Then Haku began making seals with his free hand.

Sasuke's eyes went wide. What? Seals with one hand?

"Needles of a Thousand Pains," Haku said finishing his seal sequence. The water on the ground glowed with Chakra and rose in the air. It formed itself into a thousand needles all aimed straight at the two boys.

Dammit, Sasuke thought. The needles came straight for the two but Haku knew the exact time when to jump away. Chakra, I need to concentrate on my feet! He concentrated. The needles hit and a huge wave of water was made covering Sasuke from sight.

Sasuke! Sora thought.

Haku landed. "He's fast, but not fast enough."

"Think again."

"What?"

Sasuke came straight at him from the air completely unharmed. He had focused his Chakra at his feet and jumped high and fast enough to get out of harm's way. Now he was the one attacking. He threw three shuriken knives at Haku one after another.

Haku jumped back dodging them one at a time but just barely. He's better than I thought.

"Too slow!" Sasuke yelled as he sliced his kunai at Haku's head.

Haku ducked just in time to dodge the blade but then Sasuke's foot came hard at him in the face. He was thrown back a few feet and landed on his back skidding in the water.

"Oh?" Zabuza said in surprise.

Haku slowly got up.

"It looks like you have a rival, Haku," Zabuza said.

"So it seems," Haku said shortly.

"Don't underestimate my team just because they're young," Kakashi said. "His name is Uchiha Sasuke."

"Uchiha?" Zabuza repeated. Then he must have a Blood Line Limit as well. This might prove to be difficult…but it doesn't seem he has awakened it yet.

Meanwhile, Naruto had slept on peacefully for a while but then he shot up. "WHA?" he said. "I overslept!" He bounced up and ran down the stairs still in his pajamas. He saw Tsunami at the kitchen sink. "Hey, hey, where is everyone?"

"Oh, Naruto you're up," Tsunami said surprised.

"Where'd they go?"

"Um, they all went to the bridge today-"

"WHAT? AND LEFT ME HERE?" he screamed and ran up the stairs.

"Your sensei said that you should rest today!" Tsunami called after him.

Naruto was in a frenzy to get dressed. "I can't believe they left me!" he said to himself. He splashed water on his face and decided to skip breakfast. "I've got to go!" He ran out of the house.

"Naruto!" Tsunami called. She sighed. "They never listen, do they?" She shook her head and went back in the house. "Inari?" she called. She knew that he was somewhere around the house. "Inari, come here please! I need your help today."

Inari was inside washing his hands in the upstairs bathroom. "Coming," he said sighing.

Little did they suspect that two men were lurking outside the house. Then CRASH! They burst a hole in the wall with their ninja swords. Tsunami jumped back in fright and screamed. Once the dust settled she could see the two ninjas. "What…what do you want?" she screamed backing into the counter.

"Hm," one ninja said. "It seems that Tazuna is gone." He was skinny and had a bony complexion.

"Yeah," the other said. He was big and burly with a scar across his face. Neither looked pleasant. "Well then, we'll just have to take her as hostage, huh?"

Tsunami gasped. She tried to fight back as the two men advanced on her but they grabbed her arms and she was trapped.

Inari had heard the crash and came down quickly but then he saw the two men and his mother. "MOM!" he yelled without thinking.

The two men turned their heads towards him. "Inari!" Tsunami screamed back. "Run now!"

Inari gasped upon realizing what he had done. He couldn't move. He was too scared.

"Well, well, well," the skinny one said evilly. "What should we do with him?"

"Let's kill him," the other said. "That boar wasn't enough."

"Heh, you're always thirsty for more blood."

"NO!" Tsunami yelled bravely but still shaking with fear. "If you kill him I'll bite my tongue and bleed to death!" She looked at them straight in the eyes. "You need a hostage right?"

"She's got a point," the big one said with a grunt of dissatisfaction.

"Fine," the skinny one said turning to Inari who was still shaking with fear. "You'd better be thankful to your mom for saving your life kid. Now scram before we decide to kill you anyways." They tied Tsunami's hands and led her out of the house.

Inari collapsed to his knees. He was still in a state of shock. Why? Why are they taking Mom? Why can't I do anything to save her? Why am I so weak? He began to cry. "Mom…" he choked out.

"It's ok to cry at first," came Naruto's voice. "I've been there. You've got a lot of strength in there and now is the time to use it!"

"Always be the man you want to be," Kaiza's voice came next. "Don't do anything you know you'll regret later and always protect the people you love."

"Protect the people I love…" Inari whispered. He clenched his fists and stood up. "I won't let them get away." He ran out of the house after the two men. When he came outside, they were not that far off. He ran as fast as he could towards them. "HEY!" he yelled like Naruto does. "Stop!"

The group turned around. "Huh?" said the big one. "Is that the kid we just saw?"

"So it seems," the skinny one said with an evil smile on his face. "Well, there's only one thing to do, right?"

"Yeah." The two drew their swords.

Tsunami grew frantic. "NO! I'll kill myself if-"

"Shut up," the big one snarled and he knocked her out with the handle of his sword.

This is no time to be afraid, Inari thought standing his ground as he watched his mother fall. I've got to fight.

"You asked for it, kid," the skinny one said. The two rushed at him with their swords drawn.

Inari held up his fists and closed his eyes. This is it… Then he felt two arms wrap around him and he felt himself being lifted. What? He opened his eyes just in time to land. Naruto had come back. "Naruto?"

"Hey," he said smiling confidently. "Sorry I was late but heroes are always late."

"Huh? Uh, yeah!" Inari said. His eyes were brimming with tears of relief and joy.

Naruto looked at the two who had sliced up a tree stump. "What? The replacement technique?" one said.

"Hey, you two ugly guys!" Naruto jeered loudly. "What's the matter? Can't get even a little guy like him?" He jerked his thumb at Inari.

"Why you-" They rushed at Naruto. Naruto threw two shuriken knives at them but they blocked them easily. "Hah, not so good after all."

"Think again."

"Huh?" The two shuriken knives turned into two Narutos from behind the men and the next thing they knew they were kicked hard across the face. They fell to ground unconscious.

"Wow," Inari said in awe. "You really are a great ninja!"

"Heh," Naruto said putting a hand behind his head. "Of course I am!" He put a hand on Inari's head. "You did well," he said imitating Kakashi.

Inari felt a swell of pride. "But how did you know to come back? I thought you were going to the bridge."

"Well," Naruto put a hand to his chin in a thoughtful stance. "I was running along and then I saw a sliced up boar in the middle of the woods. I also saw similar slashes on the trees heading towards your house so I knew something was up. So I turned around to check up on you guys and it's a good thing I did, too."

"Yeah," Inari said smiling widely.

"But now I think something's going on at the bridge so I've got to go, but take care of your mom and gather the villagers." Naruto fixed his forehead protector. "I have a feeling that this is something really bad." Inari nodded. Naruto ruffled his hair. "Heroes are busy, busy, busy." And with that, he jumped out of sight.

Inari watched him go and then he went to his mother. I'm going to do this, he thought. I've got to do this.

"I can show you my true speed," Haku said calmly.

True speed? Sasuke thought getting ready for anything.

Haku put his hands together in a strange seal and began to chant something. The water on the ground began to gather together and solidify into big plates of ice. They rose into the air and made a chamber around Sasuke. He was trapped from all sides.

What is this? Kakashi thought. He was getting worried. Is this his Blood Line Limit? He made a move towards Sasuke.

"Ah, ah, ah," Zabuza said stepping in between him and the two boys. "This is a battle between those two. Your battle is with me."

Oh, no, Kakashi thought. If I go to help Sasuke, then Sora and Tazuna would be at risk…she wouldn't be able to defend against him without her Chakra. Naruto...we need… He couldn't move for fear of putting Tazuna and more importantly Sora in danger.

Haku walked up to one of the plates of ice and melted into the back of it. Then an image of Haku appeared on the inside of the ice plate facing Sasuke. "This is my ultimate technique," Haku said from within the ice. "Crystal Ice Mirrors." The image of Haku spread across all the ice mirrors in the chamber completely surrounding Sasuke. "These are special ice mirrors that can't be melted by fire and they reflect only me," he explained. "Now, are you ready to see my true speed?" All the reflections of Haku held up three needles.

Where is he? Sasuke whirled his head around frantically. Where is he going to strike? Then a shower of needles came at him with lightening speed. He had no time to dodge; it all happened too fast and he wasn't prepared. "AHHHH!" he yelled in pain. The needles sliced his skin and made deep cuts but nothing fatal. The shower of needles stopped and Sasuke fell to the ground bleeding and out of breath. What? Why didn't he just kill me? He looked up at one of the reflections of Haku. He's just torturing me. He clenched his fist and stood up shakily.

He can still stand? Haku thought. Impressive.

"Sasuke!" Sora exclaimed quietly when she hear the scream. She couldn't see anything but outlines because the fog had gotten thicker and she was further away from the fight.

"What's happening?" Tazuna asked in a scared voice.

"I…I don't know," Sora said worriedly. Sasuke, she thought.

Kakashi felt completely helpless. I can't go to Sasuke but he needs me! I… he began to be frustrated. I've got to…No, I need to trust in Sasuke's abilities.

"It looks like Haku's begun," Zabuza said not turning to see what was happening behind him. His eyes were intently fixed on Kakashi. "That kid won't last long against Haku's attack."

Kakashi's body tightened.

"Haku's specialty is torture and then slow annihilation," Zabuza went on. "No one has survived that technique so far."

Sasuke was becoming frantic. How? How does he move so fast? Are those replications in the mirrors? No, that can't be…he wouldn't need mirrors if they were just replications. And they're too fast and powerful to be replications. He was beginning to lose confidence in himself. Why can't I see him move? There must be some way.

"Is this fast enough for you, Uchiha?" Haku said. He held up three more needles as did every other reflection.

Again? Sasuke was determined to not just stand there and be attacked. I've got to destroy the mirrors. He focused his Chakra and aimed a fire blast at one of the mirrors. The flames covered the mirror.

"I told you," Haku said. "Fire won't melt these mirrors." The flames disappeared leaving behind no trace of any damage to the mirror.

What? Sasuke began to shake. The reflections raised their hands and then another shower of needles sliced through the air. Sasuke covered his face and chest area with his arms. I can't take this much longer… He tried to hold in the pain but he couldn't. "AHHHH!" he yelled in agony. More and more cuts were covering his body but still not a single needle hit a fatal spot. Sasuke landed on his side so as to keep some of the needles that had stuck into his arm from going in farther. He couldn't move yet. Am I really going to die here?

Sora heard another yell of pain and torture from within the mist. She shook her head. I must…but I…I have to! She focused her Chakra to zone in on her target. She saw the outline of a chamber made of ice mirrors. Wait, I know this move, she thought. I know its weakness. She quietly pulled out a kunai. "Tazuna," she whispered.

"Yes?"

"I'm going to go around so don't move until I get back," she said.

"Of course," Tazuna said. He could sense Sora's tension.

Sora moved silently around the group and then, "Here!" she yelled as she threw her blade straight at one of the mirrors.

Sora? Sasuke thought as he tried to stand.

"Sora!" Kakashi said. She can't see us I know for a fact…did she use her…? No! "SORA, DON'T!"

"But I know this! Let me fight him!" she yelled back. The dagger shot threw the air at amazing speed, but suddenly Haku's arm came out of the back of the ice mirror Sora was aiming at and caught it in mid-flight.

Sora sensed this with her Chakra. What? How did he?

"It's no use," Haku said sticking out his head from the mirror. How did she know? He had only been lucky enough to happen to move into that mirror right when Sora threw the kunai. If I hadn't moved here by chance then I wouldn't have had time enough to get here…even with this technique, she threw it too quickly. Too suddenly. Who is she?

"Sora!" Kakashi said strictly. "Get back!"

"Sensei! Let me fight! Let be help Sasuke!" she pleaded. Why is he not letting me fight? If I could just see how he uses his technique then I know I can beat him! "I'm a freakin' ice ninja, for God's sake!"

"Sora," Kakashi said sharply. I can sense it, that thing inside her again. I've got to stop her. "Get back."

Sora was shocked. She had never heard him use such a commanding and dark tone of voice with anyone before. She inched back slowly. Sensei? Was he mad at her?

Haku stuck his head out to see who this girl was. He sensed her backing up towards Tazuna. If I fought her, then I might be defeated. Why isn't she fighting? Then out of nowhere a knife came and hit Haku hard across the face leaving a cut on his mask. He fell out of the mirror from the shock of the attack. What?

"HA!" Naruto's voice yelled out triumphantly. "THE HERO IS FINALLY HERE TO SAVE THE DAY!"

Kakashi hung his head in shame. Naruto…you would've been so much more helpful if you hadn't given away your position…

Naruto appeared through the mist with a broad smile and crossed arms. "I won't lose to you!" He said dramatically pointing his finger at Haku who had gotten up and was facing him.

I let my guard down…that girl…too distracting, he thought angrily as he faced the blond ninja who was smiling like an idiot. It's him. The one in the forest…

"Now," Naruto said taking out a kunai. "Take this!" He threw it with all of his strength right at Haku but he easily dodged it. "Huh?"

"You have an interesting fighting strategy if you think that just marching up to your enemy and throwing a knife in his face could work," Haku said softly.

Naruto? Sasuke thought as he painfully got up.

Naruto then noticed the ice mirrors and saw Sasuke inside the chamber. "Sasuke?"

"I will deal with you later," Haku said. "But for now, I'll finish him." With that he melted back into the mirror.

"What?" Naruto yelled angrily. Why is he always first on everyone's minds? He grunted and crossed his arms again.

Naruto, Sora thought desperately. If you attack from the outside and Sasuke from the inside then you can do it! Please just think!

Sasuke was thinking along the same lines. If I can get Naruto to attack from the outside, then-

"Hey," someone whispered to Sasuke.

Sasuke jumped. "Wha?" Then he saw Naruto standing right next to him with his dopey grin plastered on his face.

"I've come to help you," Naruto said smiling even broader.

Sasuke mentally smacked himself in the face. "YOU IDIOT! YOU CAN'T HELP ME IN HERE!" he whisper-screamed at him.

"Well, you're welcome," Naruto said sarcastically folding his arms and sticking out his lower lip.

Sasuke just stared hopelessly at Naruto. What kind of idiot-?

"You don't have time to look away," Haku's voice came. Then the next thing he knew a shower of needles were being shot at the two of them.

"NARUTO!" Sasuke said as he pushed him out of the way and then jumped away himself. Some of the needles stabbed him directly in his leg. He winced in pain but kept himself silent. He landed heavily on the ground while Naruto fell face down.

"Ow…" Naruto got up. "Fine, then, I'll just have to break those mirrors down myself! KAGE BUUSHIN NO JUTSU!"

Crap, thought Sasuke as he saw twenty Narutos go jumping up in the air towards all the mirrors. He's just wasting Chakra.

In a split second, all the Narutos had fallen to the ground and with small puffs of smoke, they disappeared leaving a slightly beaten up Naruto on the ground. "What? How did he move so fast?" He sat up rubbing his head.

That was fast, Sasuke looked back at the mirrors. Too fast…

"It's pointless to resist me," Haku stated matter-of-factly. "You're trapped and you cannot get out."

"Shut up!" Naruto yelled angrily. "Kage Buushin No Jutsu!" More Narutos appeared. They all conjured Chakra up in their feet and jumped with amazing speed. The water on the ground was thrown in the air from the wind emitted by the Chakra. But Haku was still faster. He hit every single Naruto easily and returned to his mirror with no mess at all.

But Sasuke had seen something. Wait, the water! He had seen the water in the air being moved by Haku. I can see his movement, just slightly, but… "Naruto, can you attack again?"

Naruto was panting heavily from use of Chakra and the beating he was getting but he stood up again. "Of course I can!" He replicated himself again and jumped out.

Sasuke kicked some water into the air and watched as closely as he could at the movement of the water. I see, Sasuke thought as Naruto came crashing to the ground. I can predict his movements now, I think…

"Dammit," Naruto cursed to himself. He stood up again. "I can't even see him."

But maybe I can, Sasuke thought. "Naruto-"

"Shut up!" he snarled. "I can do this! KAGE BUUSHIN NO JUTSU!" He replicated himself again and jumped.

Now's my chance. Sasuke aimed and shot a fire jutsu at where he thought Haku was going to be.

What? Haku thought as the fire just barely caught the end of his pants. How did he predict my movements? He went back into his mirrors but now with a slightly burnt pant leg. That's impossible…

What is this feeling? Sasuke thought as he stared at Haku's reflection. I feel like I can see…see his movement. He closed his eyes.

"Hey it's working!" Naruto said struggling to stand up. "You almost got him!"

Sasuke opened his eyes but something was different. I can see…

Naruto turned to look at Sasuke then stared. "Sasuke…"

"What?"

"Your eyes! Their like Kakashi-sensei's!"

Sharingan? Is it really?

He opened his Sharingan? In the middle of a battle? Haku thought. This might be a little harder than I thought. I've got to end this now. He pulled out five needles and every reflection did the same. "I'm sorry, but I must end this now."

"What?" Naruto said in alarm.

"No," Sasuke said quietly as he saw the needles fly out from Haku's mirrors.

Naruto couldn't react. He was too tired. He couldn't move.

"Naruto!" Sasuke yelled as he threw a needle he had picked out of his leg to cut off Haku's needles. They collided and fell to the ground. Then he shoved Naruto to the side and began to block the needle shower with his kunai.

He's protecting Naruto and stopping my attack at the same time? Haku thought. Fear began to arise within him. No, it must be a mistake… He aimed another shower of needles at Sasuke.

Sasuke didn't have time to save himself and Naruto but he automatically kicked Naruto out of the way but in doing so several needles went straight through his chest, arms and legs. He coughed up some blood as he fell on his knees.

"Sasuke!" Naruto said as he struggled to get up. He managed to crawl over to Sasuke. "Sasuke."

Sasuke couldn't support himself anymore. He dropped but Naruto caught him. "Naruto," he said as he coughed out some more blood. It dripped down his chin.

"No, you can't die!" Naruto said desperately. "No!"

"Shut up, will you?" Sasuke said. "I can't hold on anymore…" He shut his eyes tightly in pain.

"Why? I never asked you to save me!" he screamed.

Sasuke was silent for a while but then he spoke. "I hated you, but my body worked on its own. I didn't want to save you…I just did." He gasped for air. "I didn't want to die here…" The blood stains on his clothes were spreading. "I wanted to survive so I could kill him…my brother." Sasuke closed his eyes for the last time.

"Sasuke? Sasuke!" Naruto yelled.

"He fought well and deserves the respect of a great ninja," Haku said softly.

"Shut up," Naruto said darkly. "You don't know him…" He was angry. Some unknown power started welling up inside of him. He felt a surge of power go through him as he stood up. A wind was created and within it were swirls and streaks of a red light.

What is this new Chakra? Haku thought in shock. Where did he get this power?

The red Chakra started swirling around Naruto as he clenched his fists. "You! I'll kill you!" He ran at one of the mirrors. His eyes became sharper and his fingers became claws. He was powerful, he was angry, he was out of control. "I'LL KILL YOU!" He punched the mirror with such force that it shattered into a thousand pieces.

"What?" Haku gasped in alarm. He threw a shower of needles at Naruto and it hit but Naruto's Chakra deflected them off not even leaving a scratch.

Is that Naruto? Sora thought as she felt a sweep of power. This Chakra…it's not…this is impossible!

The fox's powers are leaking, Kakashi thought. I've got to stop it before it's too late. He suddenly moved but Zabuza was right with him.

"Are you going to put those two in danger?" he said attacking Kakashi with his blade.

Kakashi blocked it with a kunai but barely.

"Your fight is with me, remember?" Zabuza said.

Dammit… Kakashi thought as he threw Zabuza back.

Naruto turned in the blink of an eye and shattered another mirror. The red Chakra was taking over.

His Chakra should be gone now! Haku thought as he quickly got out of the mirrors as Naruto shattered another one. He stood ready to defend himself.

Naruto sensed the real Haku now. He turned towards him and got down on all fours. He growled in rage and shot off straight for Haku.

This…this isn't human, Haku thought. Haku blocked Naruto's punch to his face but the force was so strong that it snapped his arm. Naruto wasn't finished yet. He immediately followed with a powerful kick and it landed Haku right in the face. He was thrown backwards and hit the ground. This can't be… He slowly stood up despite the excruciating pain he felt. His arm was useless and he could hardly breathe. I can't win this… His mask had cracked and was beginning to fall off piece by piece.

Naruto got ready for another assault. He ran at Haku at full speed, the red Chakra spurring him on, giving him power beyond reason.

I'm sorry, Zabuza-san, Haku thought as a piece of his mask fell off. I failed you. I am of no more use… Naruto was closing in rapidly. Other parts of the mask fell off. Forgive me... The last of the mask fell off and Haku closed his eyes waiting for the lethal attack, but it never came. He opened his eyes and saw Naruto holding his fist just inches away from his face. He had stopped.

Kakashi and Zabuza were now fighting head on. Zabuza's heavy weapon had made enormous cracks in the bridge while Kakashi was slowly tiring from all the dodging. I've got to finish this! he thought as he barely dodged another attack. They both jumped back for a small break. "Zabuza," Kakashi said after catching his breath. "Let's finish this now."

"As you wish," Zabuza said evilly. He picked up his blade and steadied himself.

Kakashi grabbed a scroll out of his pack and bit his thumb letting the blood flow freely. He marked the scroll for its entire length with his blood and then snapped it up and placed it on the ground. "Tracking Fang no Jutsu!" he said. Nothing appeared to be happening.

"What was that?" Zabuza taunted but stopped running towards Kakashi.

Kakashi just looked at Zabuza.

"Well, if you're not going to do anything then," he said stepping forward but then a claw came out of the ground. "What?" Then he saw them. At least ten dogs were suddenly on top of him each biting him and not letting go. "Ahh!" he yelled as struggled to get them off but he was trapped. The dogs' teeth were sinking into his skin on his arms, legs, and body. "YOU!"

"These are my dogs," Kakashi said quietly. "And now you'll die." He stood up and grasped one of his wrists with his other hand. "This is my only original attack."

"The Chidori," Zabuza gasped as he began to see a small glow form in Kakashi's hand.

"Why don't you kill me?" Haku asked.

"You," Naruto panted. His eyes had gone back to normal. "You're the one from the forest."

"I have no more reason to live," Haku said quietly. "Just kill me now."

"What?" Naruto said. He couldn't believe he was hearing this.

"I cannot match your power," Haku said simply. "I am of no more use now to Zabuza-san."

"How can you say that?" Naruto said. "You're your own person! You don't have to go for a thug like Zabuza!"

"You don't understand," Haku said.

Naruto stared at Haku.

"Do you know the worst feeling in the world?" Haku asked.

"Huh?" Naruto didn't know what to say.

"Loneliness. Feeling that you're alone in the world and no one wants you," Haku stated. "I was born in a small snowy village in the Water Country. My family loved each other and we were happy until my father found out that my mother and I possessed the Blood Line Limit. My father killed my mother and tried to kill me since the Water Country experienced civil wars and those with advanced bloodlines came to be hated because we were used as weapons and blamed for the turmoil sweeping the land. I escaped by killing my father. It was the only way I could survive but then I realized that I was alone now and unwanted. Then I met Zabuza and he was the only one who would take me in. From that day on, I gave Zabuza my loyalty." Haku sighed slowly and closed his eyes. "I have no more will to live. Kill me now."

Naruto was in shock. He knew what it was like to be alone. He had never had any parents. He had never really been wanted until he found Sora, Kakashi, and even Sasuke. "I…I can't," he said as he lowered his fist.

"Why?"

"You...just because you feel you can't protect that thug doesn't mean you have no reason to live!" Naruto nearly shouted. "You're more than that!"

"No," Haku interrupted. "I vowed I would always be his follower, his tool. He has no use for a broken tool. So please…" He took a step forward although it caused him great pain to do so.

"You," Naruto said taking out his kunai blade. He remembered Sasuke. I have to avenge him. "If we had met under different circumstances, we might've been friends." He pointed it at Haku. "I'm sorry."

Haku nodded.

Naruto pulled back his arm tears streaming down his face. I hate this… He thrust his dagger forward at Haku.

Haku's eyes shot open and he grabbed Naruto's wrist and dodged the attack. "I'm sorry, but I have to do one more thing." He disappeared.

"What?" Naruto was left alone. Haku was gone. I'm so confused!

Kakashi's hand was now glowing intensely with lighting seemingly coming out from his hand. "Now, you will die."

I can see the Chakra in his hand, Zabuza thought in fear. He tried to move but was still stuck. I'm going to die! His eyes went wide with fear.

Kakashi ran at Zabuza with his Chidori. He thrust his hand forward with the intent to kill Zabuza but then he felt someone else. He couldn't stop his attack. Haku had appeared right in front of Zabuza protecting him and taking Kakashi's fatal attack for Zabuza. "What?" Kakashi said trying to take his hand back but Haku had grasped his wrist to keep the attack there. Blood was everywhere and his eyes went pale.

"I'm sorry, Zabuza-san," Haku managed to get out. Then he was silent.
Kakashi had his hand back now. He was shocked. This kid gave his life for him? He looked at Zabuza. The dogs had disappeared on Kakashi's command at the last second to avoid getting hit by the Chidori.

Zabuza didn't seem to be moved at all. He stood up sneering. "He was useful, till the end," Zabuza said.

"What?" Kakashi said.

"Now, I will kill you!" Zabuza said as he swung his blade not caring that he had to cut through Haku to get to Kakashi.

Kakashi barely had time to grab Haku's body and avoid the blade. He jumped away and placed Haku down gently. Haku's eyes were still open and Kakashi quickly closed them. "You," he said dangerously. "You don't even care, do you?"

"Why should I? He was just another tool as we all are," Zabuza said.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes and he rushed at Zabuza. He was angry.

What is this? Zabuza thought. He's too fast! Kakashi attacked viciously over and over again. Zabuza couldn't keep up and ended up with blades in his arms. The muscles were torn and the bones were broken. They were useless. How can this be? The fog lifted suddenly.

Naruto could see that Haku was dead but he had already felt it. I can't believe he was still loyal to that bastard! he thought angrily. Then he spotted Sora and Tazuna.

Sora had seen everything through her mind's eye even though she couldn't see it physically. Now that the fog had lifted somewhat, she saw Naruto looking at her. His eyes were confused and sad. "Naruto," she said softly. Then she remembered. "Tazuna-sama, will come with me to Naruto and Sasuke?"

"Of course," he said taking her hand.

They two ran towards Naruto. "Naruto!" Sora said as she came to him.

Naruto was speechless still in shock.

Sora placed a hand on Naruto's face forcing him to look into her eyes. "Naruto," she said again. "I know I can't feel what you're going through right now but your job is not done yet." She could feel it. "You've got to be strong." With that she left him going towards Sasuke.

What does she mean? Naruto asked himself. He wanted to just run away from everything. He wanted to hide himself and not worry about anything. But, he thought, she's right. He clenched his fist and ran towards Kakashi, Zabuza, and Haku. I'm not finished yet!

Sora reached Sasuke's body. She knelt beside him. Tazuna decided to be quiet and let Sora be. He thought Sasuke's death might be really hard on Sora.

Sora bent down to his ear. "Sasuke," she whispered while stroking his hair. "Sasuke, wake up." She knew that he wasn't dead. She could feel it. She sat straight again and wiped the blood away from his mouth. "I know you're alive," she said.

Tazuna heard what Sora had said. "Sora," he said softly. Does she not realize…?

Then, to Tazuna's surprise, Sasuke stirred. He opened his eyes to see two beautiful red ones looking straight at him. I'm not dead? Sasuke asked himself. He tried to sit up but couldn't. Sora?

Sora smiled slightly. She pulled Sasuke up slowly as she whispered, "I knew it."

Sasuke looked at her. Tazuna was in a state of shock. "What…what happened? I thought I was dead."

"No," Sora said smiling a little more. "Somehow, I knew that Haku couldn't kill you. He purposefully put you in a near death state."

"How did you know?" Sasuke asked still amazed that he was alive.

"I had a feeling," she said simply.

Sasuke had a feeling that Sora was keeping something from him. Again…he thought a little annoyed but he had more pressing questions on his mind. "Where's Haku? Did Naruto kill him?"

Sora looked at him in surprise. "Well, no," she said. "He gave his life to save Zabuza from Kakashi's Chidori."

What? Sasuke thought. Neither of us could even touch him. He was too powerful and he gave up his life for that bastard? I'm too weak…I couldn't defeat him. How am I going to defeat my brother if I couldn't even defeat him? He clenched his fist in frustration.

Sora knew what he was thinking. She pried his fingers open and clasped his hand. "Don't think whatever you're thinking, Sasuke," she said unusually brightly.

"Huh?" he said as he looked at their hands. Their fingers entwined together. He felt her Chakra flow into him giving him strength.

Sora gave him a tight squeeze and let go. She would heal his minor wounds later but she had already addressed the more serious ones with the Chakra she gave him. He's done his part…

As the fog completely cleared up, Naruto ran up to Zabuza only to be stopped by Kakashi. The two Jounins had stopped fighting because before them appeared Gatou and some 20 odd ninjas. What? Is that Gatou? Naruto thought. The man was short and fat with brown, poofy hair and strange round sunglasses. He must have been one of the ugliest people in the world.

"So, Zabuza," Gatou said evilly. The ninjas behind him snickered as well. "You failed again, didn't you?" He walked forward with confidence as he spotted Haku's body. "And this kid again." He placed a foot on Haku's chest. "He's as useless as they come, isn't he?"

Naruto was angry. "Shut up!" He got out a kunai and started forward but Kakashi held him still. "Sensei! Let me go!"

Zabuza looked at Gatou with contempt but remained silent.

"Aren't you going to do something?" Naruto yelled at Zabuza. "He loved you like a father! He really did and now you're just going to let his body be shamed by the likes of that…that THING!"

"Shut up…" Zabuza choked out.

"No! How can you just treat him like a tool? Did he mean nothing to you, at all?" Naruto yelled again.

"I…" Zabuza looked down.

"He sacrificed his LIFE for YOU, you BASTARD!" Naruto was really losing it. "And this is the thanks he gets?"

"You're as useless as this kid!" Gatou said kicking Haku's body. "You can't even defend yourself against the ravings of this shrimp? I have no need for broken tools like you." He motioned to the others to step up. "Finish them off." The men started laughing evilly as they got out their weapons.

"How…how can you be so heartless?" Naruto asked choking on tears. "He loved you…"

"Stop, please," Zabuza said with his eyes filled with tears. He used his shoulder to pull the wrappings off of his mouth and he let them fall. "Give me your kunai."

"Huh?" Naruto said in slight shock. But then with a sigh he closed his eyes and flipped his dagger up in the air at Zabuza.

Zabuza caught it in his mouth and immediately rushed towards the crowd of men. His eyes were blazing with hate. The men started attacking him from all sides and Zabuza got struck over and over again with spears and knives, but he ignored the pain. He had only one focus in mind. Gatou saw his rage and retreated behind his small army of ninjas trying to escape off the side of the bridge to where his boat was but he was too slow. Zabuza, even with 3 spears sticking out of his back rushed at Gatou and sliced through his chest with the knife in his mouth. Gatou cried out in pain as he staggered backwards. Zabuza whipped his head around and let go of the knife and it went straight into Gatou's heart.

Gatou fell to his knees gasping for air. Blood was coming out of his mouth. "You are a demon!" he gasped out.

Zabuza stepped up to him slowly. "Then I'll see you in hell." With that he pushed Gatou's dying body off the bridge and he splashed into the water.

The men were in shock and dared not mess with Zabuza since he had killed a few of them even with his broken arms and spears in his back. Zabuza stumbled forward searching for Haku's body. "Haku…" he whispered as he kept staggering forward but he fell down and couldn't move.

Kakashi didn't move but held onto Naruto. "Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto squirmed. "We should do something!"

"This is not our battle anymore, Naruto," Kakashi said softly.

Naruto stopped struggling and looked down.

"But you should not look away," Kakashi said. "He deserves at least that much respect."

Naruto forced himself to look. Then he saw the men all glaring at them.

"Hey," said one of them. "That guy was our paycheck, you know?"

"Yeah," said another. "What are you going to do about it?" The others nodded in agreement.

"Well," said the first one. "If you don't have anything for us, then we'll just plunder the village for everything we want."

They all got out their weapons again and began to advance.

"NOT SO FAST!" yelled a young voice.

"What?" Naruto turned around and there standing with the village people was Inari. He had gathered them all together and had brought them to the bridge to defend their village.

"You're not going to take our village away from us!" Inari shouted bravely. The villagers behind him all yelled in agreement lifting up their weapons of pitchforks and kitchen knives.

"Inari!" Naruto shouted happily. "That's the spirit!" All right, if he can go that far, then I can help too! "Shadow Jutsu!" he said as five of him appeared smiling with arms crossed.

Hmm, well, I could just use the same amount of Chakra as Naruto, Kakashi said to himself. "Shadow Jutsu," he said as 30 or more Kakashis appeared.

Naruto fell over. "What?" he whined.

Gatou's thugs were beginning to freak. "Uh, we'd better get out of here!" They looked at the many blood stained Kakashis and went running for the boat. They jumped off the bridge in a desperate attempt to escape and they went splashing in the water and swam away.

"YEA!" came shouts of joy. The crowd on the bridge was rejoicing. They lifted Inari on their shoulders. Tazuna went to join them with tears in his eyes. Kaiza would be proud, he thought as he reached up to give Inari a hug.

The shadow replications disappeared with puffs of smoke leaving a very exhausted Naruto and Kakashi.

"Kakashi," came a weak voice from Zabuza. Kakashi walked up to him. "Please, would you let me see his face one last time?"

Kakashi pulled his forehead protector over his eye. "Sure." He lifted Zabuza up and carried him over to where Haku's body lay and placed him gently down next to him.

Zabuza turned his head to look at Haku's face. Then with the rest of his strength, he moved his arm up to touch his face. "Haku," he said. "I wish with all of my heart that I can go to the place you're going." He touched Haku's face gently. "I don't deserve to but I realize now that I do love you, as well." It began to snow lightly.

Sora was watching from a distance while the noise from the crowd seemed to disappear with the falling snow. The heavens are crying, for Haku, she thought as she turned her face upwards. Please, she pleaded, May they be together for eternity.

Only Zabuza saw the two tears that fell from Haku's closed eyes. He sighed with contentment and closed his own waiting for the darkness to overtake him.

Naruto was crying. "Why?" he choked. Are ninjas just tools of war? Are we destined to live a life of no emotion?

Kakashi put a hand on his shoulder. "They will be together," he said. Then he walked up to Haku and Zabuza lifting them each gently. "Let's go." He silently teleported himself, Haku, and Zabuza away to bury them.

Naruto nodded and went back to get Sora and Sasuke. "Come on," he said quietly without looking at them or noticing Sasuke was still alive. "We've got to go."

Sora nodded as she watched Naruto walk past. Then she helped Sasuke walk silently off the bridge back to where they knew they'd find Kakashi.

As the three were walking silently, Naruto finally decided to turn around to check if Sora was behind him then he freaked. "AH!" He fell backwards and began to scoot away. "Sasuke!"

Sasuke glared at him and continued to walk with Sora supporting him.

"You're…alive?" Naruto gaped as his eyes grew wide.

"No," Sasuke said sarcastically. He was still in a pretty bad mood.

Naruto got angry. "You little...I can't believe I was actually blah, blah, blah…"

Sora sighed as she kept the group moving ahead. Things are already back to normal? They walked the rest of the way into the forest with Naruto blabbing on about nothing and Sasuke ignoring him. Naruto was still obviously in shock. Once they reached the spot, Naruto quickly shut up as he saw Kakashi squatting down beside two new graves.

He stood up as he sensed their approach. They stood in reverence to the dead each filled with thoughts. Finally Naruto broke the silence. "I'm not going to be used as a tool of war," he said clenching a fist. "I'm going to become Hokage in my own way of the ninja!" He raised his face to the setting sun. "I won't become some machine for anyone!"

Sora smiled to herself at Naruto's optimism but it quickly faded. He's still a child, she thought. He doesn't know…but I am sure of it. He carries the Nine-tailed fox demon. That red Chakra was his. I can feel it. She didn't know how she would react anymore knowing what Naruto held inside of him. And then there's Kakashi…he knows something. Why didn't he let me fight? It could have saved a lot of suffering…for everyone. She knew she couldn't kill Haku because she'd never had the experience of killing before plus the fact that she knew he had a good heart. She could have stopped his technique though. She closed her eyes and breathed out slowly trying to rid herself of her anxieties.

"We should head back to the village," Kakashi said suddenly. "They're waiting for us." He turned and started walking down the path back to Tazuna's house. Naruto followed with a determined look on his face.

Sasuke kept his focus on Sora. She hadn't moved. "Sora," he said quietly. Sora slowly turned around and looked him straight in the eye. Her expression was sad or anxious. Happy or fearful…he couldn't tell. The rays of the setting sun played in her flowing hair. He walked up to her and grasped her hand. He pulled her into an embrace. "Let's go," he whispered in her ear. She nodded and the two started down the path following Kakashi and Naruto.

Several weeks passed before the bridge was finally completed and without Gatou to stop their trade and economy, the village began to gain back some of its economy. There was a huge celebration at the opening of the bridge and Naruto was asked to cut the ribbon since it was he who inspired Inari to gather the villagers to protect their island.

Naruto came out in the bright sunlight with an enormous smile plastered on his face. He had a pair of gigantic scissors and approached the red ribbon crossing in front of the bridge. Every single person from the village was there.

Tazuna was standing next to Naruto with pride. After quieting the crowd a bit, Tazuna spoke with a loud clear voice. "Thank you all for helping us get through this time of trial! Now we're here to finally see the opening of the bridge that will forever connect this island to the mainland. It will be a sign of resistance to those who wish to overpower us, a sign of hope in times of distress, and of course it holds the memory of a hero, a new hero!"

The crowd cheered wildly as Naruto stepped up to the ribbon. He absolutely loved the attention. Kakashi, Sora, and Sasuke were standing next to him. Inari was there next to Tazuna smiling broadly as well, but not as big as Naruto. Naruto put the scissors in place and pushed down firmly. The ribbon fell to the ground as the people roared with applause and cheering. Even Sasuke was clapping although he wasn't smiling. Sora glanced at him and smiled. She playfully shoved him with her elbow trying to get him to lighten up. He smirked and shouldered her playfully back.

The village was alive again. There was celebrating, dancing, and of course food. They partied long into the night. Naruto was having the time of his life. The people loved him here. They kept shaking hands with him and hugging him with tears in their eyes. He felt important for once in his life. Inari stayed by his side the entire night and they ate until they dropped. Kakashi didn't really like that much attention and just picked a nice place to eat and drink to his heart's content as he kept an eye on his three Genins.

Sora had found the little girl to whom she had given candy so long ago and she was immediately attached to Sora. Sora found out that her parents had died and she had a younger brother to take care of. Sora spent the entire night buying things for the little girl and her brother and watching them play games with the other children. Sasuke had wanted to stay with Sora so he forced himself to tag along. The kids began to play with him and he felt incredibly uncomfortable but Sora seemed to approve of it so he put up with it.

Finally the party subsided and Tazuna, Inari, Tsunami, and Kakashi's team went back for a final night's rest at Tazuna's house. Kakashi almost had to carry Naruto and Inari home because they had eaten so much. Sora was teasing Sasuke saying that she had finally found a soft spot in him for the kids. Sasuke absolutely refused to admit anything which made Sora tease him even more. Everyone was in a happy, giddy, but tired mood and as soon as they got to the house, each went to his own room and fell asleep.

The next morning came in a few hours and the team packed their bags and ate a light breakfast. Tazuna, Tsunami, and Inari insisted on walking to the bridge with them so the group set out for the final time to the bridge.

"Well," Kakashi said as they stopped at the entrance of the bridge. "Thank you for your hospitality, Tazuna-sama." They shook hands warmly.

"No, thank you for helping us!" Tazuna said with a smile.

"We'll all miss you!" Tsunami said as she and Sora hugged. She had tears in her eyes.

Naruto and Inari were staring at each other trying to keep their tears from falling. "Go ahead, it's ok to cry when your happy," Naruto said with a shaky voice. His mouth began to waver.

"Well, why don't you cry now?" Inari said, his mouth doing the same.

"Hah," Naruto said turning around. "Heroes don't cry!"

"Yeah!" Inari said grabbing onto his mother's hand. They both let their tears fall.

They're stubborn to the end, Sora thought as she shifted her pack.

"Let's get going," Kakashi said beginning to walk down the bridge. The three Genins followed.

Sora was smiling, Sasuke was his usual expressionless self, and Naruto…well…his face was scrunched up trying to stop his crying without making it look like he was crying in the first place. He raised a hand without turning. "See ya, Inari!" he called out.

Inari wiped his nose with his hand and then waved back smiling through his tears. "See ya!" He kept waving until they were out of sight.

"You know," Tazuna said to Tsunami. "We should name this bridge, don't you think?"

"Yeah," Tsunami agreed.

"Let's name it after Naruto," Tazuna said brightly.

Tsunami stifled a small laugh but nodded in agreement.

"How does Naruto Big Bridge sound?"

Tsunami couldn't help but laugh this time. "Whatever you want, Tazuna-nii-san."

The trio walked back to their house in quiet remembrance of the four ninjas who had saved their village and changed their lives.

Back on the road again, Sora was lost in her thoughts. Over the past few weeks, she had never stopped thinking about Naruto and the demon trapped inside of him. She had a bad feeling about the Nine-tailed fox demon but didn't know what it was that she was so worried about. The Fourth sealed him away…for good, right? she reminded herself. But why do I feel so…cautious? Around him? She shook her head. No, he's not any different than before. He's just the same old Na-

"Hey, Sora," Naruto said quietly catching her by the arm.

"Oh," she said in a sort of surprise. "Naruto-kun?"

"I was just thinking," he said looking up nervously at the sky. "I mean, when we get back to the village and all…" He trailed off.

"Yes?" she inquired tilting her head a little sideways.

"Well, did you…" He paused again looking to the side.

"Did I?"

"I mean, do you want ta…ta…doyouwannagooutwithme?"

Sora raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Naruto laughed nervously. "I mean, do ya wanna go have dinner or something with me sometime?"

Is he asking me out? Sora thought. Isn't this ironic…then again…my whole life is just one big irony…sigh… She smiled. "Sure, Naruto-kun." I've got to be able to stop worrying when I'm around him. And I've got to get my mind off of Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei…

The other two were a ways ahead of them so they didn't hear a thing.

"Really?" Naruto said his eyes bugging out.

"Yeah," Sora said smiling.

Naruto went completely ecstatic. "YESSSSSSSSSSS!" he rejoiced as he danced around with his fist in the air. She said yes! This is like the best day of my life, ever! He continued to hop around a bit.

Sora sweat-dropped and tried to calm him down. "Naruto-kun!" she said as she tried to grab his arm.

Sasuke turned his head to see what was going on behind him. Once he saw Naruto jumping around like a madman and Sora with a worried expression on her face, he didn't want to know.

"It looks like we're almost there, you guys," Kakashi said from ahead.

Sasuke stopped beside him. He could see the walls of the village from where they were. All they needed to do was get through the forest and they'd be home.

Sora and Naruto caught up and Sora finally had Naruto somewhat calmer than before. She looked up to where the other two were looking. "Hey, there's the village!" she said trying to distract Naruto from his rejoicing. He's way too happy about this, she thought with a laugh.

"Huh?" The distraction worked. "Hey, we're almost there already? Geez, the last trip took forever! Come on!" He grabbed Sora's hand suddenly and rushed forward pulling her along.

"AH!" Sora exclaimed in shock.

"Come on Sasuke!" Naruto said in a mocking voice. "I'll beat you to the gate for sure!"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at Naruto's retreating figure holding Sora's hand. I'll kill him! he thought viciously to himself as he sprung from the ground determined to win.

Kakashi sighed. "Ah, the bitter rivalry," he said to himself. He teleported himself to the gate to wait for the arrival of his Genins.