A.N: Man, is this story getting intense! I hope to see you review! Yet again, I'd like to apologize for my disappearance, so I hope you enjoy the newest chapter! I say I have... one or two more chapters for this arc. Anyways, I hope you enjoy! (=
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto!
Tough
Chapter Thirteen
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"Sakura-chan, do you know who this Zabuza guy is?" Naruto whispers to his female friend. Sakura shakes her head and jumps up, standing protectively in front of Tazuna.
"I can't think of him at this moment; right now it isn't important though, all we need to worry about is protecting Tazuna and making sure he doesn't die. Don't start to complain either, we agree to go through this, even when we knew this is higher than a C-rank." Sakura interrupts, pulling out her kunai knife and holding it tightly. She knew the name from somewhere, probably from her adoptive father, Kenji.
"Come on, dope." Sasuke orders, jumping up himself and standing to the Tazuna's left. Naruto jumps up last and stands protectively on Tazuna's right. "Sakura, if you can avoid fighting then make sure you do. I don't really want... people to know your condition." Sasuke lowers his voice, trying to make sure Zabuza couldn't hear them.
"I know, Sasuke." Sakura whispers gently, smiling sadly. She really doesn't want her inner demon out again. She doesn't know if she'll be able stop herself again. Naruto glances over at her and places his hand on her arm, squeezing her softly.
"Just leave everything to us boys, Sakura-chan!" Naruto grins, giving her a thumbs up. Sakura rolls her eyes and smiles more.
"Enough chit-chat." Kakashi orders after Zabuza made the area foggy. Kakashi needed his team quiet so he can listen for Zabuza. Zabuza is a missing ninja from the Village Hidden in the Mist, and was one of the best. He wasn't anyone Kakashi can fool around with. Everyone's life is in his hands. If he fails, everyone is going to die, or Sakura's secret Inner demon is going to come out and slaughter them all.
"You should be paying attention, Kakashi." Zabuza chuckles after appearing in between the team's formation and trying to swing his sword at Tazuna. Sakura immediately thrusts her knife in his chest. Water explodes all over them, soaking Sakura and Tazuna. "Oh, that's a strange girl." Zabuza mumbles, shaking his head, "She just thrusted her kunai knife in my chest without delay. I'm going to enjoy killing her. It's going to be really fun."
"You will not harm any of my students, I promise you that!" Kakashi growls out. His sharigan eye twirls angrily before he charges towards Zabuza. Zabuza swings his sword at Kakashi while Kakashi clashes it with his kunai knife.
While Kakashi and Zabuza fight Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto form a new formation to protect Tazuna. They can't let their client be harmed or worse; killed. Kakashi suddenly dives into the water, blocking an attack Zabuza threw at him.
"No! Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura shouts, trying to warn Kakashi about his stupidity. It was too late though, Zabuza already had him trapped in his water prison.
"Crap! Guys, take Tazuna home and get away from here, now!" Kakashi orders, angry at his mistake. How could he be so stupid?
"No way!" Naruto shouts, holding his right hand in the air, closed into a fist. "We will not abandon a teammate. Sensei or not, you are still part of team seven!"
"Idiot how are you going to win against him!" Kakashi growls out, trying to get his student to realize how the situation is playing out. "He caught the strongest out here, and your mission is to protect Tazuna."
"Shut up Kakashi-sensei." Sakura snaps, her emerald-green eyes dancing in annoyance, "Sasuke, Naruto," She calls; Sasuke and Naruto both turn their attention to her, "Find a way to get Kakashi-sensei free. I'll protect Tazuna with my life." Sasuke frowns lightly while Naruto shakes his head quickly, "Fine! Do you want me and Naruto to fight and Sasuke to guard?" She asks again. Yet again they disagreed. "So shut up and find a way to free Kakashi-sensei!"
"He isn't going anywhere, girl." Zabuza orders, narrowing his eyes. "If he is, he'll be hanged on a tree with my sword through his heart." Tazuna winces and places his hands over his heart. How the hell are these three Genin ninja going to protect him?
"Hey, Sasuke, I think I have a plan." Naruto whispers, waving for Sasuke to come over and join him. Sasuke glances over at him and runs towards him. Naruto leans towards Sasuke ear and whispers softly. Sasuke suddenly smirks.
"That might actually work." Sasuke mumbles, nodding his head and standing up. Naruto and Sasuke immediately start their plan while Tazuna's life is in the female ninja's life. Kakashi watches helplessly as Naruto gets kicked into the tree and Sasuke get punched in the face. His students may have better teamwork than most, but their skills aren't enough for this fight.
"Hey, Sasuke, catch!" Naruto's shadow clone shouts, throwing a wind shuriken towards Sasuke. Sasuke catches it and spins midair while opening it up and throwing it towards Zabuza, missing the water clone. Zabuza jumps over it and laughs.
"I have to tell you aiming for the real me was smart, however, I can easily dodge it." Zabuza secretly brags while his water clone knocks Sasuke down.
"You shouldn't get too cocky, Zabuza." Sakura comments, watching the shuriken change into Naruto and throw a kunai knife at Zabuza's arm. Zabuza releases his grip on the prison. As the water prison bursts, Sasuke throws a kunai knife at the water clone and makes it disperse.
"I moved because I wanted to!" Zabuza growls out while charging towards Sakura, only to get cut off.
"You aren't touching my team." Kakashi spits out, shoving Zabuza into the water more. Zabuza starts to do a jutsu with Kakashi mimicking his signs quickly. As the jutsu's clash, Zabuza eyes widen.
"W-What is this? It's like you're reading my mind!" Zabuza shouts with Kakashi shouting at the same time. Zabuza growls out while Kakashi starts to form the signs for Water Style: Water vertex jutsu. "How is this? I was about to do it too!" Zabuza shouts as he is washed away. Sakura grabs onto Tazuna and holds onto the tree tightly, wincing when wood went into her skin. Sasuke grabs Naruto's foot and pulls him out of the water, rolling his eyes. Naruto is still a dope who can't protect himself.
Team seven moves towards Zabuza quickly, trying to make sure he is still down. Suddenly, a needle flies through the trees, hitting Zabuza in the neck and killing him. A ninja appears on a tree branch in front of Zabuza and stares down at the group. listening to Naruto yell nonsense.
"He is dead though, Naruto." Kakashi announces, taking his finger off of Zabuza and shaking his head, "His pulse is gone." He turns towards the mist ninja. The mist ninja teleports next to Zabuza and lifts him up.
"I want to thank you for slowing him down. I've been after him for a very long time. I should get going now, goodbye." The mist ninja vanishes, taking Zabuza's dead body away.
"Well, time to take you home, Tazuna." Kakashi mutters, his eyes going blurry as he passes out, thudding on the ground.
"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto shouts as team seven rushes over to their sensei.
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Sakura sits next to Kakashi, resting her hand on her palm, sighing. Naruto and Sasuke were already fast asleep, and Kakashi hasn't woke up, either. Tazuna and his family were already sleeping, too. She was too scared to try to sleep. Her Inner demon must be furious with her, and if she enters her inner's so called prison, she is most likely dead. Sakura sighs softly and looks up at the ceiling. Can she really stop her Inner self without killing herself? She doubts it. Inner is dangerous and she's scared about the damamge Inner can do.
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Kenji groans softly to himself and leans on the kitchen counter, reading through a book of seals. He found a disturbing entry about a missing nin a few days ago, and had it stashed in his room. He forgot all about it, and now his daughter is out in the dangerous world. He's not worried about just any missing ninja; it's the one who was bansihed from his village for placing seals on babies. Kenji frowns, punching the counter in annoyance. From the information he recieved he found out that the babies were diagonised as mental when they turned four years old. The entry is twenty years old, so this might be the person who Sakura's mother brought her too.
"I need to speak to Hokage-sama about this," Kenji decides, holding the entry close to his chest and exiting the house. He runs into the Hokage's tower and knocks on the door impatiently.
"Come in," The third Hokage calls, granting Kenji's wish. Kenji enters the office immediately and bows.
"I apologize for coming unannounced, Hokage-sama." Kenji apologizes before frowning deeply, "I have important news though, and I would like to speak to you about it now."
"Everyone leave," The Hokage orders, "I will like to speak to Kenji alone." The group of anbu nod and exit the room, "What's bothering you, Kenji?"
"It's my adopted daughter, Sakura Haruno." Kenji starts, staring into the Hokage's eyes to show how serious he is, "She's been having issues lately with... well... we don't know what it is exactly." Kenji pauses, thinking about Sakura's injuries, "Sometimes when Sakura sleeps, she gets pulled into this other world. I believe Sakura said that the... Inner inside of her called it her prison. We've been doing research lately and I recently found out that the Inner that Sakura mentions is from a side-effect of a seal." The Hokage narrows his eyes, staring at the document in Kenji's hand.
"What is that?" The Hoakge asks curiously.
"It's a document I found a couple of days ago. It's talking about a missing ninja who was banished from his village for putting seals on babies. Apparently, every child he used it on earlier was said to be mental by the time they were toddlers. This was over twenty years ago though." Kenji explains calmly, tightening his hold around it, "Sakura just left for a C-rank mission and I'm worried for her. Kakashi doesn't know about her... condition. The Inner is brutal to Sakura and leaves her wounded. If I can get permission from you, can I go after them, Hokage-sama?" Kenji asks, bowing lowly.
The Hokage stares at Kenji, rubbing his chin in thought. He remembers reading those entries of the insane toddlers. Sakura can't be one of those children, since she's only twelve, but if he snuck into the village and got to her, it's very possible.
"How long has she had this Inner self?" The Hokage demands.
"She said that Inner has been with her since the beginning. If I may add, Hokage-sama, you know about her mother abandoning her, right?" Kenji asks him, still bowing.
"Yes I am well aware of that. Kenji, I will grant you permission to leave, but I'm going to send Itachi Uchiha and Shisui Uchiha. If she has something wrong mentally, they will be the best option." The Hokage explains lightly, "Cat!" He shouts, watching a anbu appear in front of him, "Go retrieve Itachi and Shisui Uchiha, tell them it's of upmost importance." The anbu, Cat, nods and disappears, heading towards the Uchiha compound. "Do you have any ideas how to get rid of the Inner?"
"From all the research I've done, Hokage-sama, the only way to stop Inner is to kill Sakura." Kenji replies emotionless.
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Ouch, what is going to happen to poor Sakura? And now the Third Hokage is sending Shisui and Itachi after team seven! This is turning pretty interesting, ne? ^^ Please review!
Kimi-the-writer