The hokage was about to reply but Kakashi cut it "I am an elite jounin, and if anything that they cant handle happens then I can handle it so you have no need to worry." Kakashi said with an eye smile.
Tazuna still didn't look like he liked but he nodded, "But im your client, and you're going to defend me, even with your life, cause I'm the greatest bridge builder ever." Tazuna said flamboyantly.
The hokage cleared his throat to get their attention. "Your leaving the village tomorrow morning, so be sure to pack everything your going to need for a few weeks. Dismissed" he received a resounding 'hia' before everyone walked out, with exception for tazuna, who barely managed it without falling over.
As Naruto walked along the streets towards his apartment he tried to come up with a plan on how he would deal with Gato, "It would be ideal if I could get rid of him before we ever even fight Zabuza, but we should run into him on our last day of travel. I could always leave a shadow clone with my team and go ahead."
By this point Naruto ad already passed his house, but he continued walking anyway. "But a shadow clone could be easily dispelled and I Kakashi would get suspicious that he never saw me make a shadow clone. It would also be a slight problem getting away from them with Kakashi around. I guess we will just have to fight Zabuza the first time he attacks, then I can take care of Gato while we are at tazuna's house." after deciding that was the best plan of action, at least for now, Naruto headed back to his house to gather his supplies and eat.
Sasuke was heading towards the Uchiha compound with a small bounce in his step, this would be his first mission outside the village, a sign he was getting stronger. After packing a change of clothes, extra shuriken kunai, ninja wire, a tent, and different kinds of paper tags and a few meal scrolls from the Uchiha storehouse into his backpack and topping off his equipment pouches, he fixed a quick meal then laid down to go to sleep, knowing he would probably be awake before sunrise tomorrow.
Sakura was slightly worried about leaving the village for the first time, but she new that not only was she no longer defenseless, but she also had Sasuke Naruto and Kakashi sensei on her side.
Sakura stopped in a ninja supply store on her way home, "Hello, what can I help you with?" the man behind the counter asked as she walked in. Sakura walked over to the counter "Well I'm going on a mission tomorrow for a few weeks and…" she tried to find a way to word it without sounding stupid. "And its your first time out of the village and your from a civilian family so you don't know what to take?" the man finished for her. Sakura just nodded.
"Well first, you don't know any kind of sealing do you?" the man asked kindly.
"No, only how to unseal items from a scroll, like they taught us in the academy." Sakura replied.
"Ok, then you need to travel light, and I would recommend learning at least the basics of sealing items in scrolls. Your going to need a few of these sealed up meals…" he said as he reached over to a shelf a pulled off a scroll. " A change of clothes, extra equipment, a tent, and depending on if you have a weapon or not, your going to need things to clean and take care of it." he finished.
"well I don't have a weapon, so I need a change of clothes, spare equipment, tent, and some sealed up meals?" Sakura inquired to make sure she got it all.
"Yep, that's it. All of my meals are over there, just read on the scroll and they tell you whats in them." the man said directing her towards a shelf.
Sakura browsed through the scrolls for a few minutes before picking a four that sounded good. She walked over to the counter and laid them down. "Ok that will be 55 ryu." Sakura nodded and pulled out some mony and paid the man.
"Thanks for all your help." Sakura said gratefully.
The man just smiled, "Its no problem at all." he said as she walked out the door.
When Sakura got home she packed all that the man said she would need, when she was done she saw that there was some extra room in her pack, and was going to put in some more stuff, then realized that if she already had everything she needed, there wasn't any sense in taking more, all it would do is slow her down. So after eating and getting ready for bed, she went to sleep, knowing she would need to be up early the next morning.
Team seven arrived at the gate together at five o'clock, Sakura and Sasuke looking tired, but Naruto looked like he had a full nights rest. To their surprise when they walked up Kakashi was already there. "Kakashi sensei, are you sick or something? You're here early." Naruto asked as they walked up.
"No I'm not sick, but I was ordered 'be here on time or else' from Hokage-sama." Kakashi replied. "Well I suppose wince your all here we can get going." Kakashi said, "Form a diamond formation around Tazuna, Sakura and Naruto your on he sides Sasuke is in the back and I'll lead." Kakashi then took off walking.
They had a three day trek ahead of them. Normally they could reach their destination in a full day of travel at ninja speeds, but they had a civilian with them, so they had to walk. Which was painfully slow for four of them.
At the end of the day Kakashi led them off the trail a little to find a suitable spot to camp for the night, he settled on a small clearing just big enough for their tents and a fire. "Ok, we need to set up camp pretty quickly as its almost dark. Sakura I want you to start setting up the tents, Sasuke I want you to go see if you can catch some fish or game nearby to eat tonight, but don't be gone long. Naruto I want you to gather some firewood." Kakashi ordered.
Team seven immediately went to work on their respective jobs. Meanwhile Kakashi set up a fire pit as it had been very dry for the past couple of weeks, and the last thing he wanted to do was burn down the forest.
After about thirty minutes Sakura had set up all of the tents, Naruto had gathered enough firewood to last through the night, and Sasuke had easily caught a some fish. After Kakashi lit the fire with a small fire jutsu, they put the fish on to cook immediately, since Sasuke had gutted and cleaned them and the stream where he caught them.
While they were waiting for the fish to finish cooking Kakashi decided to ask Tazuna about what to expect on the mission. "So Tazuna, what kind of threats are we protecting you from?"
"Oh nothing much, I figure a few bandits or thugs should be all." Tazuna replied, although he did sound slightly nervous, but Kakashi just dismissed it as him worrying about being attacked.
"I see." Kakashi paused for a moment, "If you don't mind, what reason would someone want to kill a bridge builder for?" Kakashi said as he took his fish off the fire, as did the rest of the group.
"Maybe the merchant ships captains, as the bridge would greatly reduce the pay they receive for transporting goods to the land of waves." Tazuna replied.
"That does seem like a probable reason." Kakashi replied, but he could tell Tazuna was nervous about discussing that topic for some reason or another. But he chose not to pursue it.
After everyone finished eating, they were about to turn in, "Ok team, since there is four of us, there will be four two hour watches. Who wants to take the first?" Kakashi asked.
"I will." Sakura said, figuring it would be better to sleep uninterrupted.
"Ok good Sakura, now who wants to take the second?"
"I got it." Naruto said.
"Ok then Sasuke do you want the third or fourth watch?" Kakashi asked Sasuke.
"I'll take the fourth." Sasuke replied.
"Aright, that means I got the third. Ok Sasuke, Naruto you better get sleep while you can, were leaving at 6:30 tomorrow." Kakashi said as he headed towards his tent.
"Kakashi sensei, its just before nine now, and if we're getting up at six, that's nine hours, but with each of us taking two hour shifts we will only cover eight hours, what about the ninth?" Sakura asked.
"Right I forgot to tell you about that, the ninth hour is for telling the person who comes after you if anything suspicious happened, or if they should be aware of any trouble spots that you found, such as a thick cluster of trees that someone could easily hide in." Kakashi explained.
"That makes sense, I just didn't think about that." Sakura replied.
"Oh and one more thing, be careful not to wonder very far from camp." with that last piece of advice, Kakashi ducked into his tent, as did Naruto, Sasuke, and Tazuna. Leaving Sakura to guard them.
"None of them should have anything to worry about, or they will at least have an early warning thanks to the shadow clones I left in the forest." Naruto thought. Then decided he should rest up.
Sasuke awoke everyone up at around six o'clock. After packing their tents up, and extinguishing the fire they made their way back to the road and continued on their way.
As they were walking along the came past a puddle in the road, Sasuke and Sakura didn't think anything of it, but Naruto and Kakashi saw through the bad disguise, as it hadn't rained in days.
After they past the puddle, two figures slowly rose out of it, both of them wearing a tan jumpsuit and breathing device over their face, but what stood out most was the gauntlet on each of their hands, connected by a razor sharp chain.
As soon as they were out of the puddle they sprang into action, they lept forward and wrapped the chain around Kakashi's torso a few times, before yanking on it. Ripping Kakashi into several pieces in a gory, bloody display.
By this time team seven had turned around, Sakura was holding her stomach, trying not to through her breakfast up, Sasuke also looked like he was a bit queasy but he managed to draw two kunai and quickly get into a fighting stance. Tazuna was leaning over losing his breakfast, and Naruto looked unfazed by what just happened, "The demon brothers, I almost forgot about them." Naruto thought to himself.
"One down, four to go." one of the brothers said in a blood thirsty tone. "Yea, and we just killed their jounin sensei, they should be no problem." the other replied.
They then charged at the three genin, moving in a criss-cross patern to disguise their movements. When they got to Sasuke they swung the chain to try and wrap it around him, but he jumped over it, then spun into a kick, sending one of the brothers flying a few feet.
He landed and looked at them with a smirk on his face, "Is that the best you got?"
The demon brothers growled and charged again, but this time much faster. When they reached Sasuke they went for a few punches and kicks. Sasuke moved desperately to avoid all of them, but a kick sneaked through his defense and sent him flying into a tree.
The demon brothers immediately followed him, not wanting to give him a chance to get his bearings. But they were stopped in their tracks when a kunai pinned their chain to a tree.
They looked over to see where it came from, and saw Naruto charging at them. When he reached them he engaged them in a tiajutsu battle. But the demon brothers couldn't defend properly due to them being basically attached to the tree.
So making the decision they detached the chain, and separated, intent on surrounding Naruto. Naruto was spinning in circles so as to keep an eye on both of them. Then they both charged, Naruto defended from the one in front of him, as he got there first, but he couldn't defend against the second one, at least not without blowing his cover. "This is going to hurt." Naruto thought to himself as the other demon brother approached his from behind.
But before he could attack Naruto, Sasuke intercepted him. Being surprised by the Uchiha, he was quickly knocked back and rolled into a heap on the ground, unconscious.
Sasuke then turned his attention to helping Naruto, with both of them attacking him, he was quickly being overwhelmed.
Sasuke went for a sweeping kick, when he jumped over, then Naruto came at his with a high kick, he managed to block it, although he was sent a few feet back. As he rolled to his feet he looked at Naruto and Sasuke with a analyzing eye. "I know I could take on one of them, but both of them at the same time? Something just seems off about them, the one with the blonde hair seems like he's holding back, although he hides it well. And the black haired one seems like he's been doing tiajutsu since he was five, there is almost no openings in his style." he thought to himself, but he was brought out of his musings when Naruto and Sasuke charged.
He blocked a punch from Naruto, then a kick from Sasuke. He jumped over a kick from, then Sasuke sent a kick to him while he was in the air. He jerked his body hard to the left, and narrowly managed to avoid it. Although he landed in a heap on the ground, he was quick to get up.
He blocked a punch from Naruto, and Sasuke at the same time, but was surprised when they grabbed his hands. Naruto then ducked down and sent a hard kick to his jaw, sending him skyward.
As he came back down Sasuke spun into a roundhouse kick, and sent his flying into a nearby tree.
He shook his head to get the cobwebs out, then stood up. Not intending to give up, he charged at them. Naruto and Sasuke both drew a kunai and prepared to defend against him. Naruto ducked under a kick, and Sasuke blocked a punch. The demon brother dodged a few punches from Sasuke, then a kick from Naruto. He then went for a punch to Sasuke's face, which he narrowly dodged. But he over extended, and Sasuke elbowed him in the side, the brought his kunai down.
The demon brother saw this and twisted his body to avoid it, but he still received a deep gash along his left shoulder. He was relieved for a second, then he felt a stabbing pain, and saw that Naruto had stabbed him in the thigh.
Using his one good leg, he jumped away. He reached down and grabbed the kunai, then with a grimace pulled it out.
He quickly reached into his pouch and pulled out some bandages, but he dropped them as he rolled out of the way of a kick from Naruto. He then blocked a series of punches from Sasuke. He barely managed to ducked under a kick from Naruto. But he didn't dodge the kick Sasuke sent him to the back of his head. He would of went tumbling forward, but Naruto grabbed his arms and rolled onto his back, while putting his feet on his stomach.
He then let go of his arms and pushed with his legs, sending the demon brother flying into the air. Using his momentum he kept rolling backwards and into a crouch, then drew a kunai and threw it at the air born demon brother, hitting him in the head with deadly accuracy.
The other demon brother had awoken just before Naruto's maneuver, "NO, BROTHER!" he screamed, "I'LL KILL YOU, I'LL KILL YOU BOTH!" he screamed as he charged towards Naruto and Sasuke. But before he was even halfway there, a kunai imbedded itself in the back of his leg. Sending him tumbling head over heals.
Sasuke and Naruto, who were both already in fighting stances looked to who threw it, and saw Sakura. Sakura ran over towards him, intent on finishing him off, when he rolled to the side, causing her kunai to become imbedded in the ground.
The demon brother then drew his own kunai, and brought it down in an arc towards her head. She couldn't move quickly enough in the awkward stance she was in, and Naruto and Sasuke were to far away to help, "This is it, I'm going to die. At least it was in service to Konoha." she thought to herself as she waited for sure death.
But just when he was about to his her, a hand grabbed his arm, and plunged a kunai into the back of his skull. Then released him and let him fall to the ground, with a look of pure chock over his face. Sakura looked up to see who had saved her, and to her shock it was Kakashi. "ARE you ok Sakura?" he asked as he helped her up.
"Yea, thanks Kakashi sensei, I though I was done for." she thanked him.
Naruto sighed in relief, he had been just about to intercept the demon brother had Kakashi not done it. "Wait, how are you alive, we saw you get killed by that chain?" Sakura asked.
She looked over to where Kakashi's body had been and saw a pile of logs. "Replacement jutsu." she said to herself. "But if you were alive the whole time, why didn't you help us?" Naruto asked, although he already knew the answer.
"I wanted to see how far you had progressed, and how you did in a real battle. And I'm proud to say you all did great, even though you Sakura didn't participate in the fight till the end, you were guarding Tazuna, in case one of them came after him. Speaking of which, we need to talk." he said as he turned to Tazuna.
sorry for the long wait, but i had family problems i had to deal with, but im back and i hope you like the way the fight in this chapter went, review and tell me what you think :)